It is time to fight for judicial nominations

Washington Post:

Even as President Bush last week named four candidates to fill long-standing vacancies on federal appeals courts, conservative legal activists were spoiling for a fight over what they call the unfair treatment of the president's judicial nominees.

So far, the new names have not raised the hackles of the liberal advocacy groups closely monitoring Bush's nominees. But there is substantial opposition to several other nominees, including Leslie H. Southwick, formerly a judge on the Mississippi Court of Appeals, and Harris County, Tex., trial Judge Jennifer W. Elrod, both candidates for seats on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

"Leslie Southwick's confirmation would be a slap in the face to African Americans and people of goodwill. His views on workplace discrimination are, at best, questionable and at worst, indifferent to the dignity of minority workers," said Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Council on Civil Rights.

Meanwhile, Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice, labeled Elrod, 41, "not ready to be confirmed" after her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.

Before Bush named his latest batch of nominees -- Shalom D. Stone for a seat on the 3rd Circuit, Robert J. Conrad Jr. to the 4th Circuit, Catharina Haynes to the 5th Circuit and John Daniel Tinder to the 7th Circuit -- he had selected candidates for only five of the 15 circuit court vacancies. Some conservative legal activists were worried that the president was squandering an opportunity to build on a record that includes appointing two Supreme Court justices and about 30 percent of the nation's active appeals court judges.

But now conservative activists are incensed at the opposition and are urging Senate Republicans to retaliate -- perhaps by blocking Democratic legislation and effectively grinding business to a halt in the Senate -- if there is no action on the stalled appeals court candidates.

"There's a battle heating up," said Curt Levey, director of the Committee for Justice, a group that supports conservative judicial nominees. "Something's going to happen before the August recess."

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The arrogance and bad faith of the opposition to Southwick is displayed by the statement of Wade Henderson. Where does he come off suggesting that supporters of Southwick are not people of goodwill? It tells you a lot about the nature of opposition to conservatives judges when opponents cannot acknowledge that conservatives are people of good will. As Rush Limbaugh has pointed out, one of the conceits of liberals is that those who oppose them are evil. It is an attempt to frame the debate in such a way that you are arguing that you are not evil instead of the merits of a case for conservatism. It is a bad faith argument, but it is what should be expected from liberals. It makes you think that they are not people of goodwill.