[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 28, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S181]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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   NOMINATION OF JUDGE ANN AIKEN FOR THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE 
                           DISTRICT OF OREGON

 Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, President Clinton's nomination 
for the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Judge Ann 
Aiken, came before this body this afternoon. Mr. President, I was 
unavoidably absent for the vote, but I would like the record to reflect 
that I would have voted ``no.''
  I commend my colleague from Wyoming, Senator Mike Enzi, for closely 
scrutinizing this nomination and reporting to us some alarming rulings 
on the part of Judge Aiken which illustrate flaws in her judicial 
philosophy. For example, as Senator Enzi has noted, Judge Aiken, while 
a Oregon state court judge, sentenced a 26-year-old man convicted of 
the first degree rape of a 5-year-old girl to a mere ninety days in 
jail. Ninety days? A petty thief gets more than ninety days. This man 
raped a little girl. According to local papers, Judge Aiken justified 
her minimal sentence by citing a lack of treatment programs for sex 
offenders in Oregon's state prisons.
  Mr. President, this case, along with a history of similar rulings, 
reveals a grave misunderstanding in Judge Aiken's judicial outlook and 
a proclivity to side with criminals. Once again, the President has 
offered this body a judicial nominee more interested in defending the 
rights of criminals than protecting those of victims. How much longer 
will he continue to nominate Federal judges who ignore the safety and 
well-being of our communities?

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