US Cheif Justice Rehnquist has thiroid cancer

[Wakie]

If Bush loses the election look for a speedy resignation by Rehnquist and a nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the Supreme Court.

[Wakie]

If Bush loses the election look for a speedy resignation by Rehnquist and a nomination of Alberto Gonzales to the Supreme Court.

Would that be a progressive move?

Dave

No, not really.  Gonzales is the White House Chief Counsel.  I've read that he is the top choice for a fast track Supreme Court nominee.  His opinions aren't nearly as contraversial of some other Bush judicial nominees but ideologically he falls into line with Thomas and Scalia.  If the Democrats questioned his nomination the Republicans would play the race card ('you're challenging him because he's Hispanic').

[Wakie]

You can delay as long as you want.

Republicans wouldn't be hurt by it in the least.

It is possible to block one or two nominees.  But eventually it would become blatantly clear that they are behaving like petulant children.

[Wakie]

You mean, like the Democrats in the 106th and 108th Senate?

Umm ... the Dems held up 6 nominees but confirmed the majority of Bush's judicial nominees.  We're talking here about what would be 1 very important appointment.  It would be possible to block 1 or 2 or even 6 different nominees for this one position, but eventually it would reflect poorly on the GOP.

BTW, if you want to rehash those 6 nominees that were held up we can.  Personally I was ok with the nominations of Kuhl, Rogers Brown, and Estrada but had HUGE HUGE problems with Owen, Pryor, and Pickering.

[Wakie]

Well, personally I'm uncomfortable with Pickering as a judge.

As a law student in 1959, Pickering wrote an article suggesting a way for Mississippi to strengthen its law against interracial marriage. Soon after his law school graduation, he formed a three-person law partnership with a man who ran for governor as a "total segregationist." Later, as a legislator serving in the all-white Mississippi state Senate, he voted against several measures intended to expand electoral opportunities for African- Americans. He also voted to continue funding for the Sovereignty Commission, a notorious state-funded agency founded to fight desegregation in Mississippi and to spy on civil rights and union activists.

Pickering’s rulings in a number of cases involving constitutional and other issues have been reversed by even conservative appellate court judges for violating “well-settled principles of law.” In addition, Pickering has engaged as a judge in what several legal ethics experts called unethical conduct in seeking a more lenient sentence for a defendant convicted in a cross-burning case.  He repeatedly used off-the-record threats and other methods to force prosecutors to drop the most serious charge against the defendant. Pickering then sentenced him to 27 months in prison-almost five fewer years than the law required-for an act that he called a "drunken prank."

He has rarely ruled in favor of an employment discrimination plaintiff. When asked about his unbalanced record on employment discrimination cases at his 2002 confirmation hearing, Pickering made the outrageous assertion that meritorious claims are resolved by the EEOC and generally only those lacking in merit are brought to the federal courts.

He is guilty of perjury.  At his 1990 hearing for a district court seat, Pickering stated under oath: "I never had any contact with [the Sovereignty Commission] and I had disagreement with the purposes and the methods and some of the approaches that they took." Not only had Pickering voted to fund the Sovereignty Commission, recently released documents include a memo to the Commission's files indicating that Pickering was "very interested" in a Sovereignty Commission investigation into union activity in his hometown and "requested to be apprised of developments" regarding the investigation.

Judge Pickering's nomination has been opposed by a broad coalition of public interest groups, including the NAACP, National Council of Women's Organizations, National Women's Law Center, and the Society of American Law Teachers. In addition, the Congressional Black Caucus has written a letter opposing Pickering's confirmation to the Fifth Circuit:

"We would like to make our position perfectly clear to you and the Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Congressional Black Caucus adamantly opposes the nomination of Mr. Pickering to the Fifth Circuit. Mr. Pickering's career and record on civil rights is a grave concern. Mr. Pickering also has a quarter-century of hostility to women's rights"