[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 169 (Thursday, November 20, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2347-E2348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    THE IMPACT OF LEFT-WING SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS ON THE JUDICIAL 
                           NOMINATION PROCESS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MARK E. SOUDER

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 19, 2003

  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I introduced into the Record 
several memos written by Democratic Congressional staff illustrating 
how deeply politicized the process of appointing new judges to the 
Federal bench has become. Today I am introducing two more such memos--
which were reported by the Wall Street Journal last week--which further 
reveal the damage that a handful of liberal special interest groups are 
inflicting on that process.
  The memos show how much influence is being wielded by left-wing 
fringe groups like the so-called People for the American Way and the 
Alliance for Justice, and extreme pro-abortion groups like the National 
Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). These groups apparently were 
called on to dig up dirt on President Bush's judicial nominees, and 
were allowed to dictate which nominees to oppose and when to schedule 
them. One nominee was only supported because another liberal special 
interest group, the trial lawyers' lobby, wanted to remove him from the 
trial bench to the appellate bench. Taken together, these memos show 
the unhealthy influence these groups are having on the federal 
judiciary--a judiciary that is supposed to serve all the American 
people, and not just a few special interests.

                               Memorandum

                                                     June 4, 2002.
     To: Senator Kennedy.
     Subject: Meeting with Groups on Judges--Wednesday, 11:50 a.m.

       As you know, the meeting with the groups to discuss the 
     strategy on judicial nominations is scheduled for tomorrow at 
     11:50. Both Senator Schumer and Senator Durbin will be able 
     to attend. The six principals who will attend are: (1) Wade 
     Henderson, (2) Ralph Neas, (3) Leslie Proll of the NAACP LDF, 
     (4) Nancy Zirkin, (5) Nan Aron, and (6) Kate Michelman. It 
     turns out that neither Marcia nor Judy can make it tomorrow--
     Marcia has a board meeting and Judy, a family emergency.
       We expect that the agenda will include a discussion of: (1) 
     delaying a hearing for Dennis Shedd, a nominee to the Fourth 
     Circuit, who Sen. Leahy would like to schedule on June 27th; 
     (2) which circuit court nominees should be scheduled prior to 
     adjournment; and, (3) our next big fight.


                                schedule

       At present, there is only one noncontroversial circuit 
     court nominee (with a complete file and blue slips) who has 
     not already been scheduled for a hearing. This nominee is 
     John Rogers (6th Circuit), who Senator Leahy will likely 
     schedule for a hearing on June 13th. In addition, there have 
     been two recent nominees to the 2nd Circuit and to the Ninth 
     Circuit, whose records are now being researched, and who may 
     prove to be noncontroversial.
       Senator Leahy would then like to schedule Dennis Shedd on 
     June 27th, Judge Priscilla Owen after the July 4th recess, 
     and Miguel Estrada in September.
       The groups should be encouraged to propose some specific 
     nominees who can be moved forward before adjournment. 
     Clearly, there are few nominees who are noncontroversial, but 
     the groups should be pushed on whether they would agree on a 
     hearing for some controversial nominees such as Steele, 
     Tymkovich, or Michael McConnell (for whom Leahy has already 
     promised a hearing), on the theory that these nominees are 
     less problematic than others.


                                 Shedd

       Senator Leahy has told the groups that he would like to 
     have a hearing on Dennis Shedd this month. Senator Hollings 
     is supportive of Dennis Shedd's nomination and is, 
     reportedly, pressuring Senator Leahy to move forward on a 
     hearing. The groups have strong concerns about Shedd. He is 
     quite bad on civil rights and federalism issues, and he has 
     hundreds of unpublished opinions that have not yet been 
     reviewed. The groups are opposed to having a hearing on him 
     this month in part because they do not believe that they will 
     be able to do an adequate review of his extensive record by 
     June 27th, particularly given that they are gearing up to 
     oppose Judge Owen.
       We believe that you should hear the groups' concerns 
     regarding Shedd, but that you should strongly encourage the 
     groups to work with South Carolina groups and individuals to 
     apply pressure on Senator Hollings. We know that some of the 
     groups, including LCCR and the NAACP will meet with Sen. 
     Hollings on Thursday regarding Shedd, but more pressure will 
     likely need to be applied because Sen. Hollings is quite 
     committed to moving Shedd this month.
       Recommendation: Encourage groups to work with South 
     Carolina groups to influence Sen. Hollings.


                           Our Next Big Fight

       The current thinking from Senator Leahy is that Judge Owen 
     will be our next big fight, after July 4th recess. We agree 
     that she is the right choice--she has a bad record on labor, 
     personal injury, and choice issues, and a broad range of 
     national and local Texas groups are ready to oppose her. The 
     groups seem to be in agreement with the decision to move Owen 
     in July.
       Recommendation: Move Owen in July.
                                  ____


                               Memorandum

     To: Senator Durbin.
     From:
     Date: June 5, 2002.
     Re: Meeting with Civil Rights Leaders to Discuss Judicial 
         Nominations Strategy Thursday, June 6, 5:30 p.m., Russell 
         317.

       Senator Kennedy has invited you and Senator Schumer to 
     attend a meeting with civil rights leaders to discuss their 
     priorities as the Judiciary Committee considers judicial 
     nominees in the coming months. This meeting was originally 
     scheduled for late Wednesday morning.
       This meeting is intended to follow-up your meetings in 
     Senator Kennedy's office last fall. The guest list will be 
     the same: Kate Michelman (NARAL), Nan Aron (Alliance for 
     Justice), Wade Henderson (Leadership Conference on Civil 
     Rights), Ralph Ncas (People For the American Way), Nancy 
     Zirkin (American Association of University Women), Marcia 
     Greenberger (National Women's Law Center), and Judy Lichtman 
     (National Partnership).
       The meeting is likely to touch upon the following topics:
       --Their floor strategy for opposing D. Brooks Smith, who 
     was voted out of Committee 12-7.
       --Their concerns with Dennis Shedd, a controversial 4th 
     Circuit nominee from South Carolina--Under pressure from 
     Senator Hollings--who apparently is backing Shedd because the 
     trial lawyers want him off the district court bench--Chairman 
     Leahy is planning to hold a hearing in late June. The groups 
     would like more time to read through Shedd's many unpublished 
     opinions, which were only recently provided to the Committee, 
     and to request court transcripts. Based on a preliminary 
     review, this nominee poses a number of problems: he has 
     narrowly interpreted Congress's power under the 14th 
     Amendment (in one instance, he was unanimously reversed by 
     the Supreme Court); he has a long track record of dismissing 
     civil rights claims; he once revoked indigent status for a 
     litigant who used her mother's computer and fax machine to 
     file pleadings; and he has made insensitive comments about 
     the Confederate flag.
       --The Judiciary Committee's schedule for the summer and 
     fall. In spite of the White House's intransigence, the 
     Committee continues to schedule hearings at a rapid pace--
     every two weeks through the end of the session. Bruce Cohen 
     has outlined the following schedule:
       June: Rogers (6th Circuit-KY); Shedd (4th Circuit-SC)
       July: Owen (5th Circuit-TX); Raagi (2d Circuit-NY)
       Sept: Estrada (DC Circuit); possibly Bybee (9th Circuit-NV) 
     (backed by Reid)
       Oct: McConnell (10th Circuit-UT)
       Leahy has effectively promised that Owen, Estrada, and 
     McConnell would get hearings this year. Like Shedd, these 
     three will generate significant opposition and controversy. 
     The groups feel that Owen is vulnerable to defeat, but 
     Estrada and McConnell will be hard to vote down in Committee.
       --The White House's unwillingness to compromise. On NPR 
     this week, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez said:
       I'm not sure this [judges] is an area where there should be 
     a great deal of compromise on principle. Regrettably, . . . 
     we may have to be patient and wait to see what happens in the 
     November election. And that may be viewed as a sort of crass 
     political assessment but that is in fact true. One way to get 
     this thing moving is to take back the Senate so that we can 
     at least get our judges onto the full Senate floor.
       At the moment, a number of Democrats--Edwards, Graham, 
     Nelson (FL), Levin,

[[Page E2348]]

     Stabenow--are in stalled negotiations with the White House 
     over judges.

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