ACTION ALERT!!
Help Needed Now to Oppose Sutton Nomination
It's time to take action on the Sutton nomination! In the
article below, "Roll Call" reports that Jeffrey Sutton, nominated to the
Federal Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, "would most likely be among
the first nominees to get an airing before the soon-to-be
Republican-controlled [judiciary] committee next month."
Sutton argued against two important civil rights statutes in cases before the
Supreme Court, one on age discrimination and one on the ADA. In both cases, a
narrow majority of the Supreme Court sided with Sutton's argument in defense
of states rights and state immunity from private suits under federal law.
During the ADA case oral arguments, when asked whether the case was more of an
employment case than an access case, Sutton replied: "Well, your Honor, it's a
challenge to the ADA across the board."
Because of Sutton's cramped view of Congress's authority to protect our civil
rights under the Constitution, AAPD and hundreds of other organizations have
gone on record opposing his nomination. If this opposition is to have any
meaning, advocates must act now to urge members of Congress to vote against
Sutton's nomination.
As described below, now that Republicans have regained control of the Senate,
hearings and votes on Bush's judicial nominees are expected to move quickly.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
+ Call your Senators NOW to educate them about Sutton's record and help
protect the future of the ADA;
+ Write your Senators and send copies of your letters to Senators Leahy and
Hatch on the Judiciary Committee;
+ Ask for editorial board meetings with local newspapers in early January;
+ Write letters to the editor of local papers.
In any calls you make or letters you write, try to give examples of how
discrimination by States continues to impact the lives of children and adults
with disabilities.
For more information on Sutton, visit
http://www.ncil.org/sutton.htm. To contact your Senators, visit
www.senate.gov. You can also call the
Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. It's especially important to contact
members of the Judiciary Committee. Senator Hatch, a major supporter of the
ADA and soon-to-be Chairman of the Judiciary committee that will act on
judicial nominees, can be reached at 202-224-5251. The list of current
Judiciary Committee members follows the Roll Call article.
Jonathan Young, PhD
JFA Editor, AAPD
===================================
GOP Sets Early Push For Judges
By Paul Kane
Roll Call
December 16, 2002
Senate Republicans are planning to move aggressively on judicial nominations
at the start of the 108th Congress, hoping to hold three voting sessions in
January to install new judges on the federal bench.
Leading Senate Republicans emerged from a meeting with White House Counsel
Alberto Gonzales last week with a framework for how they will push for
nominees previously held up by the outgoing Democratic majority.
While final dates have not been set, some GOP leaders are pushing to hold
votes on judges in the Judiciary Committee as early as Jan. 10, 2003, just
three days after the new Congress convenes.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), a Judiciary member who is also a newcomer to the
leadership, said he is pushing for the White House to renominate any holdover
nominees from this Congress on Jan. 7. If that occurs, Senate rules mandate
the committee wait three days before a nominee could be voted on in executive
sessions, a timetable Kyl favors.
"We go into session Tuesday. Count them up, three days, that means Friday,"
Kyl said of his preferred schedule.
Kyl said the plan would then involve holding executive sessions to vote on
more judges the following Friday, Jan. 17, and possibly again at the end of
the month. Aides and other Senators stressed that no dates had yet been
finalized, but agreed with the general outline for getting out of the gate
quickly and holding up to three voting sessions next month on nominees who
have already had hearings but have not yet been reported favorably out of
committee.
That strategy would likely mean a quick vote on Miguel Estrada's nomination to
the prestigious U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
His bid has drawn sharp opposition from liberal groups looking to knock off
Estrada, who is widely viewed as a potential Supreme Court nominee.
Incoming Majority Leader Trent Lott(R-Miss.) had previously vowed to make
Judge Charles Pickering of Mississippi, a friend of 30 years whose bid for a
Circuit Court seat was defeated last March, the first judge considered in the
108th Congress. Republicans privately acknowledged that a new Pickering fight
might be too tricky to push forward this early because of the ongoing battle
Lott is fighting regarding racial allegations, which were also the subtext to
Pickering's nomination.
Lott said at a press conference Friday that he still hoped the White House
would nominate Pickering, but he agreed his opponents will link the issues.
"Obviously, people will try to use it against him," he said.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the incoming Judiciary chairman, declined to
speculate on what the Lott controversy meant for Pickering. But Hatch said he
would take up nominees "chronologically, starting with May 9."
Hatch was referring to the remaining nominees who were sent to the Hill by
President Bush on May 9, 2001, many of whom Democrats considered too
conservative or controversial. That first group of nominees did not include
Pickering, but it did include Estrada as well as John Roberts, a nominee to
the D.C. Circuit Court, and Jeffrey Sutton, a Circuit Court nominee from Ohio.
Estrada had a hearing in the fall, a marathon session in which he faced hours
of questions from Senate Democrats, who have now had several months to ask him
follow-up questions in writing. "That's an example of one of those nominees
that shouldn't be too hard to bring up," Kyl said.
"He's ready to go," added a senior GOP aide.
Roberts and Sutton, however, have not yet had hearings, meaning they would
most likely be among the first nominees to get an airing before the soon-to-be
Republican- controlled committee next month.
If Republicans can get started that quickly on controversial nominees such as
Estrada and Roberts, the ball will quickly be in the Democrats' court. With a
majority of Republicans, the committee can ram through any nominee it wants by
a one-vote margin, sending it to the floor, where a handful of moderate
Democrats are likely to join Republicans in approving almost every nominee.
Aides say it's not clear if, and over which nomination, Democrats would be
willing to go the unusual route of filibustering a lower-court nomination, a
tactic that has usually been reserved for controversial Supreme Court
nominees. But Democrats noted that Republicans can't do anything just yet with
Judiciary or any other committee, not while Lott and the Democratic leader,
Sen. Thomas Daschle (S.D.), are still haggling over a reorganization
resolution that will formally establish committee structures for the 108th.
Until that resolution passes the Senate, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) will still
be considered chairman of Judiciary, as will all other current Democratic
chairmen. Lott and Daschle agreed that the new panels will have a one-seat
edge for Republicans, but many issues remain undecided, including how the
funds will be split and whether the GOP achieves its majority by knocking
Democrats off the committees or adding more members.
Lott and Daschle last spoke about the issue a week ago, just as the
controversy over Lott's comments at a tribute to Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.)
exploded, and it's unclear when the leaders will resume their own one-on-one
talks.
When Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.) left the GOP and gave Democrats the majority,
it took more than a month to negotiate the new organizing resolution. Any
extended negotiation such as the last one would put a serious roadblock into
Republican plans of quickly passing Estrada and other judges.
And Democrats are anxiously awaiting the chance to contrast how quickly Senate
Republicans approve judges nominated by Bush to those nominees from the
Clinton administration, when the GOP also controlled the chamber. "There's no
doubt that Republicans will dramatically improve on their own record of
obstructing President Clinton's nominees," said David Carle, Leahy's
spokesman. "In fact, they'll beat their own record by a mile."
In a pre-emptive move to defend his own record, which Republicans regularly
assailed in the past year, Leahy sent a letter to Chief Justice William
Rehnquist outlining what he considers a strong record of approving judges, 100
in all since Democrats took over in mid-2001.
"While some have attempted to diminish our significant accomplishments through
misleading percentage comparisons, the fact is that we were extremely
productive, especially when compared to the Republican majority's actions from
1995 to 2001," Leahy wrote.
Leahy is hoping to influence Rehnquist's year-end report which is due in the
coming weeks and usually includes remarks on how the Senate has performed in
approving judges. Leahy inherited 110 judicial vacancies, a number that was
sliced down to 59 when the 107th Congress concluded its work last month.
Whenever Republicans get to start moving judicial nominations, they expect to
make it a regular duty, with both a hearing and voting session every week.
Aides said Kyl was among those Republicans who were pushing for a specific
show of force by holding a hearing on judicial nominees every day of the
second week of the session, from Jan. 13 through Jan. 17.
It's unlikely that such an ambitious schedule would be taken up, but more
because of time constraints than GOP willingness. "We're not going to
overreach," vowed a GOP aide. "But we are not going to be sitting back either.
We have a lot of catching up to do."
http://www.rollcall.com/pages/news/00/2002/12/news1216a.html
# # #
=====================
Patrick J. Leahy
CHAIRMAN, VERMONT
Orrin G. Hatch
RANKING REPUBLICAN MEMBER, UTAH
Edward M. Kennedy
MASSACHUSETTS
Strom Thurmond
SOUTH CAROLINA
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
DELAWARE
Charles E. Grassley
IOWA
Herbert Kohl
WISCONSIN
Arlen Specter
PENNSYLVANIA
Dianne Feinstein
CALIFORNIA
Jon Kyl
ARIZONA
Russell D. Feingold
WISCONSIN
Mike DeWine
OHIO
Charles E. Schumer
NEW YORK
Jeff Sessions
ALABAMA
Richard J. Durbin
ILLINOIS
Sam Brownback
KANSAS
Maria Cantwell
WASHINGTON
Mitch McConnell
KENTUCKY
John Edwards
NORTH CAROLINA
# # #
=======================
JUSTICE FOR ALL -- A Service of the American Association of People with
Disabilities
www.aapd-dc.org
www.jfanow.org
There's strength in numbers! Be a part of a national coalition of people with
disabilities and join AAPD today.
www.aapd-dc.org
Last Updated on
04/14/04
webmaster@namiscc.org
