Judge Rules Against Hazleton's Crackdown On Illegal Immigration
By Tom Fitton
August 1, 2007
Page 3 of 3
Judicial Watch recently joined a coalition of 60 organizations calling for the Senate Judiciary Committee to do its job and vote on President Bush's judicial nominees. Overall, the record of the U.S. Senate on judicial confirmations throughout the Bush presidency has been abysmal and isn't getting any better now that Democrats control Congress. Currently, there five appellate court nominees - three waiting to fill vacancies declared "judicial emergencies" - and 14 district court nominees who are stalled in the Judiciary Committee, some for more than a year. (Four other nominees were just announced.)
The problem, as we see it, is two-fold. First, the Senate Judiciary Committee insists on holding hearings on these nominees just once per month, a pace that would leave them far short of historical averages in terms of confirmations. Second, and more importantly, liberal special interest groups and their allies in the Senate have chosen to obstruct the confirmation process. In short, they don't like the conservative judicial philosophies of the nominees and are trying to slow-pedal the confirmations until the president leaves office. Liberals have also engaged in character assassination against these candidates, smearing their reputations, all to keep competent conservatives off the bench.
This, of course, in our view is shameless and irresponsible.
Here's how the coalition put it in a letter, dated July 25, 2007: "That approval ratings for the 110th Congress are among the lowest in history is a testament to the American people's concern that their elected representatives are more interested in partisan politics and politically driven investigations than in making progress on the issues citizens really care about. The American people want you to do your job, and among the most important responsibilities of the Judiciary Committee are processing and voting on the President's judicial nominees."
Judicial Watch, of course, has been a leading voice in the judicial confirmation debate. We even filed an historic lawsuit against the United States Senate for allowing a minority of Senators to hijack the judicial confirmation process and filibuster the president's judicial nominees, a clear violation of their constitutional duty to "advise and consent."
I have previously discussed why it is so important that we nominate and confirm conservative jurists, some who are now currently languishing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Unable to find success at the ballot box, the radical Left rely on the courts to legislate their agenda through judicial fiat. The Hazleton decision is a good example of this judicial activism. So please let your senators know what you think of the liberal hold-up of good conservative judicial nominees. The number for the Senate switchboard is (202) 224-3121.
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Tom Fitton is president of Judicial Watch, Inc. a constitutionally conservative, nonpartisan educational foundation that promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA. >> Back -- Page 1 2 3
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