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WASHINGTON , D.C. – THE COMMITTEE FOR JUSTICE, WHICH SUPPORTS CONSTITUTIONALIST JUDICIAL NOMINEES, TODAY REBUTTED MOVEONPAC’S PROPAGANDA REGARDING JUDICIAL CONFIRMATIONS (response in caps):

Dear MoveOn member,

Tomorrow, March 10th, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider the nomination of mining and cattle industry lobbyist William Myers III for a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals—the second highest court in the land. Myers is the first of 20 judicial nominees Bush has re-submitted in his second term. All 20 repeat nominees were rejected last term by Senate Democrats (as compared to the 204 judges they accepted) because these nominees consistently sided with corporate special-interests over the rights of ordinary Americans.

IT IS INCORRECT THAT 20 RESUBMITTED NOMINEES WERE, IN ANY SENSE, REJECTED BY THE SENATE. OF THE 20, 13 WERE SIMPLY NEVER GIVEN A HEARING OR A VOTE OUT OF COMMITTEE. THIS HARDLY AMOUNTS TO REJECTION AND THERE IS AMPLE PRECEDENT, INCLUDING FROM THE CLINTON YEARS, FOR RE-NOMINATION. IN THE 108 TH CONGRESS, SEVEN OF THE RESUBMITTED NOMINEES WERE FILIBUSTERED – A DELAYING TACTIC MEANT TO DENY A VOTE – AGAIN, NOT THE EQUIVALENT OF REJECTION.

MOREOVER, IT IS FALSE THAT ALL OR MOST NOMINEES WERE OPPOSED DUE TO PRO-CORPORATE BIAS. THE REASONS FOR FILIBUSTER CITED BY SENATE DEMOCRATS RAN THE GAMUT, FROM CLAIMS THAT INDIVIDUAL NOMINEES WERE OPPOSED TO UNRESTRICTED ABORTION (BILL PRYOR, PRISCILLA OWEN) TO SIMPLE PARTISANSHIP (THREE MICHIGAN NOMINEES WERE FILIBUSTERED AS REVENGE FOR SEN. LEVIN’S COUSIN-IN-LAW BEING BLOCKED DURING THE CLINTON YEARS DUE TO FAILURE TO CONSULT WITH SEN. SPENCE ABRAHAM.)  

DURING PRESIDENT BUSH’S FIRST TERM, USING THE FILIBUSTER AND PROCEDURAL BLOCKS IN COMMITTEE, SENATE DEMOCRATS HELD THE PRESIDENT TO THE LOWEST APPELLATE CONFIRMATION RATE IN MODERN HISTORY – 69 PERCENT. NOW THEY ARE TRYING TO BLACKMAIL HIM WITH A 60 VOTE STANDARD, IN ORDER TO GAIN VETO POWER OVER HIS APPOINTMENTS, PARTICULARLY TO THE SUPREME COURT.

This time, Bush is ready to fight dirty to force these nominees through. Dick Cheney has even threatened to use a parliamentary trick to eliminate the centuries-old rule requiring judges to have broad support in the Senate. This would effectively silence all 44 Democratic senators and the 173 million Americans they represent—the majority of the country.

THERE IS NO “CENTURIES-OLD RULE REQUIRING JUDGES TO HAVE BROAD SUPPORT IN THE SENATE,” AT LEAST NOT BEYOND THE CONSTITUTION’S SIMPLE MAJORITY STANDARD. THERE ARE NUMEROUS HISTORICAL EXAMPLES OF JUDGES CONFIRMED WITH FEWER THAN THE 60 VOTES NOW MANDATED BY DEMOCRATS.  

AS A MATTER OF FACT, UNTIL 1949, SENATE RULES DID NOT ALLOW FOR FILIBUSTER OF ANYTHING BUT LEGISLATION. THE FILIBUSTER (I.E. DENIAL OF CLOTURE) HAS BEEN USED FOUR TIMES IN HISTORY AGAINST JUDICIAL NOMINEES, BUT IN THREE OF THE FOUR CASES, DENIAL WAS FOLLOWED QUICKLY BY SUCCESSFUL CLOTURE AND CONFIRMATION. THE ONE EXCEPTION, ON JUSTICE FORTAS’ NOMINATION IN 1968, LACKED MAJORITY SUPPORT AND WAS PULLED FROM THE FLOOR AFTER FOUR DAYS OF DEBATE. IN OTHER WORDS, THE CURRENT FILIBUSTERS ARE THE FIRST PERMANENT DENIAL OF CLOTURE TO NOMINEES WITH CLEAR MAJORITY SUPPORT.

A MINORITY OF 40 SENATORS HAS NEVER IN AMERICAN HISTORY PRESUMED TO HAVE VETO POWER OVER JUDICIAL NOMINEES ON THE SENATE FLOOR.

With the first crucial vote on the first judge in less than a day, we're launching a national campaign to let our senators know that we out here in America are counting on them to hold the line on all 20 of Bush's rejected, corporate judges, and beat back his dirty parliamentary tricks.

THERE ARE NO PARLIAMENTARY DIRTY TRICKS. THE PROPOSED “CONSTITUTIONAL OPTION” WOULD USE A TACTIC EMPLOYED FOUR TIMES BY THEN-SENATE MAJORITY LEADER ROBERT BYRD (D-WV) IN THE 1970S AND ‘80S TO END UNREASONABLE MINORITY OBSTRUCTION VIA MAJORITY VOTE.

BECAUSE THE FILIBUSTER HAS NEVER BEEN USED THE WAY DEMOCRATS ARE NOW USING IT, THE CONSTITUTIONAL OPTION SIMPLY RESTORES THE HISTORICAL TRADITION – THAT PERMANENT FILIBUSTERS OF NOMINEES WITH MAJORITY SENATE SUPPORT ARE INAPPROPRIATE AND OUT OF ORDER – AND PROCEEDS TO AN UP OR DOWN VOTE.

The first phase is this national petition that we will hand deliver to your senators before the confirmation votes for the 20 judges. And tomorrow, MoveOn members will host over 1000 house meetings to create local plans to save the judiciary. The courts we have for the next 30 years may depend on your efforts in the next few weeks.

Please sign today:
http://www.moveonpac.org/judges/

To ram his nominees through, Bush is hoping to use a parliamentary trick the Republicans refer to as the "nuclear option." For 200 years, if enough senators strongly objected to a federal judge, they could use a filibuster to force more debate until all their concerns were addressed. That's how Democrats blocked the worst of these 20 nominees last term. Actually changing the rule would require a 2/3 vote of the Senate—and Bush doesn't have near that level of support.

MOST OF THESE CLAIMS ARE ADDRESSED ABOVE, BUT IT SHOULD BE NOTED, IF DEMOCRATS REALLY WERE USING CLOTURE TO EXTEND DEBATE OVER JUDGES, THERE WOULD BE NO PROBLEM. IN REALITY, THE FILIBUSTERS HAVE BEEN USED NOT TO EXTEND DEBATE BUT TO “REJECT” NOMINEES, AS MOVEON ITSELF ASSERTS.

So instead, Vice President Cheney has threatened to abuse his authority as President of the Senate, and just declare that the right to filibuster judges is null and void. If Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist can twist enough arms to get 50 senators to support the ruling, the filibuster is history. For the first time ever, one party would have complete control over judicial nominations, all the way up to the Supreme Court.

THIS IS HARDLY THE FIRST TIME THE SAME PARTY HAS HAD CONTROL OF THE SENATE AND THE WHITE HOUSE. DURING BILL CLINTON’S FIRST TWO YEARS, DEMOCRATS CONTROLLED THE SENATE – YET NO REPUBLICANS CLAIMED THE RIGHT TO FILIBUSTER HIS JUDGES. DURING ALL FOUR YEARS OF CARTER, DEMOCRATS CONTROLLED THE SENATE; AGAIN, NO FILIBUSTER. FOR SIX YEARS OF REAGAN, REPUBLICANS CONTROLLED THE SENATE. NO FILIBUSTERS, NOR THREAT THEREOF. FILIBUSTERS HAVE NEVER BEEN PART OF JUDICIAL CONFIRMATIONS.

Both parties in the Senate were given the power to approve or reject judicial nominations because—above all else—judges must be trusted by Americans on all sides to rule fairly. So why does Bush refuse to send a few replacement nominees both parties can agree on? Why is he so intent on smashing Democratic resistance to these and all future nominees? Because while his presidency will be over in 4 years, the judges he appoints will be on the bench for the rest of their lives. This is Bush's big push to lock in his hard-right, corporate-friendly ideology for decades to come—and that is exactly why we must not back down now.

MEMBERS OF BOTH PARTIES DO SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT’S NOMINEES, WHICH IS WHY ANY OF THE FILIBUSTERED NOMINEES WOULD RECEIVE BIPARTISAN VOTES FOR CONFIRMATION, WELL BEYOND THE CONSTITUTION’S BARE MAJORITY THRESHOLD. THAT SOME ON THE LEFT DO NOT LIKE HOW VOTERS HAVE DISTRIBUTED POWER BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES CURRENTLY IS NOT JUSTICIFICATION TO UNFAIRLY RE-WRITE THE CONFIRMATION STANDARD.  

The whole plot is set into motion tomorrow, with the committee vote on William Myers. We must draw the line here, by stopping Bush's 20 repeat nominees and standing up to the "nuclear option."

Please sign the petition today:
http://www.moveonpac.org/judges/

Thanks for all that you do,

--Ben Brandzel, Eli Pariser and the whole MoveOn PAC Team
   Wednesday, March 9th, 2005

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