 |
          
  |
|
|
After the successful confirmation of Judge Leslie
Southwick yesterday
(which took almost 17 months) the number of circuit court judges confirmed by
the Senate in the last two years of Bush’s second term has climbed to a grand
total of five. Obviously, the Senate has its work cut out for it if it is
going to keep pace with the rate of Bill Clinton’s nominees (as the stats reveal).
It is important to note that since the presidential election “season” is
growing so long, there are probably only about 6-8 months left for the senate
to confirm President Bush’s judicial nominations.
To view a larger version click here.
Today the U.S. Senate finally did its job and voted on the confirmation of Judge Leslie Southwick for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Southwick was confirmed by a vote of 59 - 38. His confirmation is a victory for defenders of the Constitution and a defeat for liberal extremists who support activist judges. Before Southwick could receive his confirmation vote three-fifths of the Senate had to vote to "invoke cloture" which ended debate, prevented a partisan filibuster, and allowed a fair up-or-down vote on the nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick. Cloture was invoked by a vote of 62 - 35. Check the AdvanceUSA Vote Watch page to see how your senators voted on this important judicial confirmation.
For more information on this crucial nomination click here or check the Southwick category here at AdvanceUSA Blog.
Vote to End Debate on Leslie Southwick’s Nomination to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
October 24, 2007
Full Results | News Story
|
|
|
Yeas |
|
Nays |
|
PRES |
|
NV |
|
Republican |
|
49 |
|
— |
|
— |
|
— |
|
Democratic |
|
13 |
|
34 |
|
— |
|
3 |
|
Independent |
|
— |
|
1 |
|
— |
|
— |
|
TOTALS |
|
62 |
|
35 |
|
— |
|
3 |
Vote to Confirm Leslie Southwick to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
October 24, 2007
Full Results | News Story
|
|
|
Yeas |
|
Nays |
|
PRES |
|
NV |
|
Republican |
|
49 |
|
— |
|
— |
|
— |
|
Democratic |
|
10 |
|
37 |
|
— |
|
3 |
|
Independent |
|
— |
|
1 |
|
— |
|
— |
|
TOTALS |
|
59 |
|
38 |
|
— |
|
3 |
As
reported at NRO’s Bench Memos blog Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has
indicated that Judge
Southwick might finally receive a fair up-or-down vote in the Senate this week. Southwick is a highly-qualified, strong
originalist nominated by President Bush to sit on the 5th Circuit
Court of Appeals but his nomination has been stalled due to liberal slandering
of his character and distortion of his record.
VOTE TODAY: Last night our contacts on the
Hill informed us of the following:
This evening Majority Leader Reid
announced a time agreement regarding the votes on Judge Leslie Southwick’s
nomination.
Under the agreement the Members
have agreed to move to the cloture vote tomorrow morning at 11:00am. Should
cloture be invoked (meaning more than 60 Senators vote in the affirmative), we
would move immediately to the vote on final confirmation. If it is not invoked,
we will return to legislative session.
Southwick would be an upstanding circuit judge who would uphold
the Constitution. Pray that the Senate
treats him justly and votes to confirm his nomination.
Excerpts from The
Hill online magazine:
With just 16
months left until President Bush leaves the Oval Office, there are 48 vacancies
on the federal district and appellate courts, and Bush has yet to nominate
judges for 24 of those seats.
…
Republicans
say if Democrats continue to block Southwick and other qualified nominees, they
will spotlight the “obstruction” in the run-up to the election, an issue that
plays well with and energizes the conservative base. And some blame sprawling
Democratic investigations into the Justice Department and other aspects of the
administration for slowing down the White House’s process in finding suitable
nominees.
Roll Call (full article available by subscription) reports on the efforts to scrounge up enough votes in the Senate to ensure that Judge Leslie Southwick receives fair treatment. Southwick is President Bush’s nominee for a vacancy on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, is an Iraq War veteran, and was unanimously deemed “well-qualified” by the American Bar Association.
Excerpt:
[Sen.] Cochran [(R-MS)] said Monday that the hurdles to confirming Southwick remain great, but he continues to work with other GOP Senate supporters to try to convince enough Democrats to come on board. He added that he believes if Democratic Senators approach the Southwick nomination with an open mind, then he may eke through.
“The party with the most votes wins,” Cochran said. “And if it’s on a partisan basis, he won’t be confirmed and it would be a tragedy because he is a man of outstanding character who would be an outstanding addition to the court.”
For more information on Southwick’s beleaguered nomination click here or check the related blog posts in the “Southwick” category.
AdvanceUSA
has learned that Jennifer W. Elrod, one of President Bush’s nominees for the 5th
Circuit Court of Appeals, has been recommended by the Senate Judiciary
Committee on a voice vote. Now two 5th Circuit Nominees
(Leslie Southwick and Jennifer Elrod) await confirmation by the Senate and
given the Senate’s dismal record on confirming judges (only 3 Circuit Court
nominees this year) immediate action should be taken.
The
following is an excerpt from Roll Call (subscription):
“Republicans are salivating over a fight with Democrats on
judicial nominations, which they view as an ideal vehicle to charge the
majority party with ‘obstructionism’ and rally their conservative base heading
into the 2008 election year.”
AdvanceUSA
attended a press conference yesterday on Capitol Hill to show support for the
embattled nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick for the 5th Circuit
Court of Appeals. Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Orin Hatch (R-UT) led
the event which was well attended by conservative activists, concerned
citizens, and members of the media.
UPDATE: Click here to view a video clip of the press conference. Sen.
Specter kicks off the press conference advocating the speedy approval of Judge
Southwick with many concerned citizen-activists gathered in support.
Over at Bench
Memos, NRO’s blog on judicial matters, Ed Whelan addresses several of the
unjust allegations and distortions leveled at Judge Leslie Southwick (President
Bush’s well-qualified, originalist nominee for the 5th Circuit
Court).
Excerpt
from an INVESTOR'S
BUSINESS DAILY article on the nomination of Judge Southwick:
Perhaps concerned with claims he's "not black
enough," Barack Obama plays the race card in the judicial nomination of
Leslie Southwick. That may score points with liberal activists, but it
shouldn't with fair-minded voters.
Click
here to read the full article.
Judge
Leslie Southwick was nominated by the President to sit on the 5th Circuit
Court of Appeals, but liberal groups have tried to slander his character by blatantly
distorting two past judicial decisions which he joined, out of the thousands he
has participated in. The Washington Post’s
recent editorial counters
the baseless liberal accusations and highlights his sterling qualifications.
An older Wall
Street Journal article and this
National Review article also refute the slanderous accusations against
Judge Southwick.
Southwick was recently voted out of committee, but the liberal attack email
below should provide evidence enough that radical organizations will continue
to seek to obstruct Judge Southwick’s nomination and likely the confirmations
of further judicial nominees. Your
senators need to hear the truth about Judge Southwick and of the need to
appoint more qualified, originalist judges to the federal bench.
Below is
the text from an email that AdvanceUSA has obtained which was sent by the Human
Rights Campaign (HRC), a radically liberal “gay rights” organization.
Today the
Senate Judiciary Committee voted Judge Leslie Southwick’s nomination to the 5th
Circuit out of committee 10-9. Now the full Senate must decide whether
or not to confirm his nomination. Thusly, the McConnell
amendment is now unnecessary as Southwick will finally get his fair
up-or-down vote in the full Senate (assuming there is no judicial filibuster).
For more
information on Judge Southwick’s nomination check the AdvanceUSA home page
or pro-justice page.
Republican
Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell made the following statements after Judge Southwick
was approved by the Judiciary Committee:
UPDATE: Call
both
your senators today and urge them
to vote “yes” on Sen. McConnell’s amendment to express the sense of the Senate
that Judge Southwick should receive a fair up or down
vote!
“It Is The Sense Of The Senate That The Nomination Of
Judge Leslie Southwick To The United
States Court Of Appeals For The Fifth
Circuit Should Receive A Vote By The Full Senate.”
So reads
the amendment
proposed today by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. It is
very important that Judge Leslie Southwick receive a fair up-or-down vote by
the full Senate on his nomination to the 5th Circuit Court of
Appeals, and this amendment is a strategic tool in the process. Since
liberal interest groups have fought a simple confirmation vote using a variety
of smear tactics and political bullying, this unusual measure will be a telling
indicator.
Senator
McConnell’s staff has highlighted some important quotes regarding Judge
Southwick which are reproduced below.
Despite
the long-standing practice of giving deference to home-state many senators are
refusing to give Judge Leslie Southwick a fair up-or-down vote in the full
Senate even though both senators from Mississippi
(Trent Lott and Thad Cochran) strongly support his nomination. The Senate
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell spoke out against the apparent “double
standard” in video posted below.
Below are
some relevant quotes helpfully provided by Senator McConnell’s staff:
On Monday
Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT) took to the Senate floor to defend the nomination of
Judge Leslie Southwick for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (full
transcript in Congressional Record) which is currently stalled in the
Senate Judiciary Committee. Southwick had been the victim of outrageous
liberal attack but he is a sterling nominee for the federal bench and deserves
a fair up-or-down vote in the full Senate.
Below are excerpts of Sen. Hatch’s remarks.
Stuart Taylor Jr., at the National Journal provides great background on the nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick and explains how liberals are opposing his nomination because he is conservative. Below are some excerpts.
“A Mississippi judge is the latest victim of a judicial confirmation process that has steadily become more degraded by partisan warfare.”
“Of course, liberal groups and Senate Democrats don't admit to opposing Southwick simply for being conservative. But their detailed complaints boil down to just that, as do scurrilous insinuations that Southwick is a bigot -- insinuations denounced by, among others, his former law clerk La'Verne Edney, an African-American. ‘It is unfortunate,’ she has written, that ‘there are some that have made him the chosen sacrifice to promote their agenda.’”
This WSJ article discusses the recent absurd statements by certain senators seeking greater “control” over judicial nominees and exposes the faultiness of their logic. The role of the Senate under the Constitution is to give “advise and consent” to the President regarding judicial nominees, not to “interrogate and control” them. This article shatters the recent myth that all legal precedents must be upheld all the time. If this were the case, such cases as Dread Scott (“the black man has no rights…”) and Plessy v. Ferguson (“separate but equal”) would still be enforced. The role of a judge is to uphold the Constitution and not to slavishly follow wrongly-decided precedent.
 AdvanceUSA and a number of conservative groups held a press conference yesterday led by Sen. Specter (R-PA) to correct the record about the sterling record and qualifications of Judge Leslie Southwick and to demand he receive a fair up-or-down vote in the full Senate. Judge Southwick was nominated by President Bush to sit on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, was unanimously rated "well qualified" by the ABA, and volunteered for active duty in Iraq. However, liberal interest groups, determined to prohibit qualified, originalist judges from reaching the federal bench, have sought to derail his nomination through character assassination and blatantly misleading allegations.
Appointing qualified, originalist judges to the federal bench is one of the most important issues facing our nation and should be a high priority for conservatives in Congress and conservative citizens contemplating presidential candidates.
AdvanceUSA has more information on Judge Southwick on its home page and pro-justice page. Also, there are a number of past blog posts about Southwick's nomination, the support for Southwick from Sen. McConnell and from Sen. Specter (transcript here), the broken promises by some senators, and the shameless attempts by some liberals to use Southwick's race against him.
UPDATE: This article from Investors Business Daily adds more | | |