Mr. President! Free Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean!

Mr. President! Free Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean! Please join fellow GOPUSA activists in petitioning President Bush for a full pardon for Agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos.

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Back in 1969, the smear tactics worked against Clement Haynsworth's nomination. Ultimately he would return to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals after his defeat in the Senate but it would take nearly two decades to rehabilitate his reputation.

Haynsworth's legacy however would be the culmination of an elaborate process -- the creation of the political "reverse hate crime." This "reverse hate crime" forces all once and future Supreme Court nominees to run a gauntlet of intrusive and sometimes destructive processes solely created to ascertain and assess a judge's internal judicial philosophy. But unlike a court of law where the accused is innocent until guilty, here Senators, activists, members of the media and other duly deputized agents are allowed to undertake any and all measures necessary to pin down a nominee's philosophy in order to prove they are unfit to join the court.

It would began nearly two decades before President Ronald Reagan nominated legal scholar and Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court and it has evolved to the point that it now encompasses intrigue, political strategy, active involvement by outside interest groups and scrutiny beyond which many nominees find too great to bear -- indeed it is the modern Supreme Court confirmation process. Although Judge Alito will likely pass through this gauntlet, only history will be the judge of whether it can ever be brought under control.

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Horace Cooper is a constitutional law professor at George Mason University

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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.

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