[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Pages 21996-21997]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  NOMINATION OF JUDGE LESLIE SOUTHWICK

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, when I was first elected to the Senate 
in 2002, I recognized the so-called maiden speech tradition, and I came 
here expecting to talk about U.S. history. I was so disappointed by the 
debate that I found going on in February of 2003 about the President's 
appointment of Miguel Estrada to the Supreme Court that I spoke for a 
long time one night about the unfairness that I felt about that. I 
thought he was a superbly qualified individual and that a case was 
being manufactured against him to try to prevent an up-or-down vote.
  Then, along came the nomination of Judge Charles Pickering, of 
Mississippi, who in the 1950s and 1960s, while others were making 
speeches about civil rights, was living it out in the middle of 
Mississippi, testifying against someone who was described as the ``most 
violent living racist'' in Mississippi and putting his children into 
desegregated schools at a time when others weren't. There was a 
manufactured, unfair case against him.
  The Senate came to its senses shortly thereafter and began to develop 
a procedure where judges could get an up-or-down vote, which brings me 
to the matter of Judge Leslie Southwick, of Mississippi, whom the 
President has nominated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 
Fifth Circuit--the same position for which Judge Pickering was 
nominated. Yet, despite his excellent qualifications, his nomination 
has not been reported to the floor by the Judiciary Committee for a 
fair up-or-down vote. It seems that Judge Southwick may be the first 
target in a new round of character assassination by some in this body.
  That seat has been vacant for 6 years. This is one of the most 
important courts in America. I was a law clerk on that court--actually 
a messenger, but I was treated like a law clerk--to the great Judge 
John Minor Wisdom, who served with Judge Tuttle, Judge Rives, and Judge 
Brown, all of whom presided over the segregation of the South. I value 
that court and the quality of judges who have been there.
  Judge Southwick has that same quality. He has 11 years of service as 
a Mississippi State appellate court judge. He had military service in 
Iraq as a staff judge advocate. He has been a professor at Mississippi 
College of Law. He has had service as a senior Justice Department 
official. He has had more than 20 years in private practice in Jackson. 
He is rated unanimously ``well qualified'' by the American Bar 
Association. He has been honored by the Mississippi State Bar with its 
Judicial Excellence Award.
  What is it about the Democrats and Mississippi judges? This is an 
enormously well-qualified judge from Mississippi, and the Democrats, 
apparently because he is from Mississippi, do not want to give him a 
fair up-or-down vote. That is totally unfair and it is beneath the 
dignity of this body and I object to it strenuously. This judgeship has 
been labeled a ``judicial emergency'' by the nonpartisan Administrative 
Office of the Courts.
  What is the manufactured case? The case that has been made against 
him, if a student were to send it in to any accredited law school, 
would be sent back with an F and the student would be told to prepare 
better.
  First, it is said he participated in an opinion he didn't even write 
which put the first amendment ahead of a racial slur. That is always--
always--a difficult decision to make, but the Mississippi Supreme Court 
said it was the correct decision. Judge Southwick reiterated his 
disdain for racial slurs. He said the racial slur in question is 
``always offensive'' and ``inherently and highly derogatory.''
  He did not even write the opinion. Yet for some reason that is 
thought to be inappropriate.
  Then they said he joined in a case that used the words ``homosexual 
lifestyle.'' He didn't write the opinion.

[[Page 21997]]

That phrase ``homosexual lifestyle'' may not be preferred by some, but 
it is very commonly used in American legal opinions by the U.S. Supreme 
Court, for example, in Lawrence v. Texas, striking down the Texas ban 
on sodomy. It was also used by President Bill Clinton when he announced 
his ``don't ask don't tell'' policy. That is the manufactured case.
  So I ask my colleagues to remember the difficulties we had in 2003 
and 2004, when the Senate did not look at its best, when it was 
manufacturing cases against otherwise well-qualified and distinguished 
men and women who had been nominated to the court.
  I hope the Judiciary Committee will bring Judge Leslie Southwick's 
name forward to the full Senate so we can have an up-or-down vote. He 
deserves a vote. The Senate deserves to respect its traditions 
regarding nominees, and the American people deserve to be served by a 
man of such quality.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Georgia is 
recognized.
  Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up 
to 7 minutes, and at 6 minutes, if I am still speaking, will the Chair 
please let me know.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair will so notify the 
Senator.

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