2008 Woodie Awards
Earthjustice speaks out against court appointment
Issue date: 5/18/04 Section: Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor,
I head Earthjustice's (and the environmental community's) federal judicial nomination project.
I am writing to encourage you to write a follow-up on Colin Rydell's Feb. 5 "Conservative judge appointed" editorial in the Clarion on President Bush's federal judicial nominations.
For the first time, a nominee's extreme record on protections for the environment and Native Americans is the focus for a threatened filibuster. William G. Myers III, who cleared the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote, is a nominee to a lifetime seat on the Ninth Circuit, which decides the fate of federal safeguards in nine western states.
As described below, both as an industry advocate and as the Interior Department's top lawyer, William Myers "has proven himself to be an activist opponent of the federal government" with a record that includes extreme, ideological attacks on Congress' Commerce Clause power and favoring industry profit at the expense of basic protections for the environment and for Native Americans.
Remarkably, Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) acknowledged bi-partisan support on the bulk of President Bush's judicial nominations; in a May 10 Senate Floor speech, he stated: "I commend Senator Daschle and other colleagues across the aisle, especially my friend the ranking Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy, for working with us and the administration in confirming to date 173 of President Bush's judicial nominations.
As Senator Leahy frequently reminds us, 100 of those nomination confirmations took place during his tenure as Judiciary Committee chairman from mid-2001 through 2002."
Unfortunately, Sen. Hatch still refuses to recognize that filibusters have been necessary to block a handful of the most extreme and unqualified nominees (and will be necessary to block William Myers) because every Republican Senator has voted in lockstep to rubber-stamp every judicial nominee, despite the constitutional advise-and-consent duty to exercise independent judgment on a President's nominations of lifetime members of the third branch of government--our independent judiciary.
I head Earthjustice's (and the environmental community's) federal judicial nomination project.
I am writing to encourage you to write a follow-up on Colin Rydell's Feb. 5 "Conservative judge appointed" editorial in the Clarion on President Bush's federal judicial nominations.
For the first time, a nominee's extreme record on protections for the environment and Native Americans is the focus for a threatened filibuster. William G. Myers III, who cleared the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote, is a nominee to a lifetime seat on the Ninth Circuit, which decides the fate of federal safeguards in nine western states.
As described below, both as an industry advocate and as the Interior Department's top lawyer, William Myers "has proven himself to be an activist opponent of the federal government" with a record that includes extreme, ideological attacks on Congress' Commerce Clause power and favoring industry profit at the expense of basic protections for the environment and for Native Americans.
Remarkably, Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) acknowledged bi-partisan support on the bulk of President Bush's judicial nominations; in a May 10 Senate Floor speech, he stated: "I commend Senator Daschle and other colleagues across the aisle, especially my friend the ranking Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy, for working with us and the administration in confirming to date 173 of President Bush's judicial nominations.
As Senator Leahy frequently reminds us, 100 of those nomination confirmations took place during his tenure as Judiciary Committee chairman from mid-2001 through 2002."
Unfortunately, Sen. Hatch still refuses to recognize that filibusters have been necessary to block a handful of the most extreme and unqualified nominees (and will be necessary to block William Myers) because every Republican Senator has voted in lockstep to rubber-stamp every judicial nominee, despite the constitutional advise-and-consent duty to exercise independent judgment on a President's nominations of lifetime members of the third branch of government--our independent judiciary.
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