Ask Senator Kennedy to save our courts

Ask Senator Kennedy to save our courts

Dear MoveOn member,

The fight to save our courts is about to really heat up. Bush just resubmitted 20 nominees to the U.S. Courts of Appeals that the Democrats fought four years to block. These 20 judges were rejected, while 204 were approved, because they have consistently sacrificed the rights of ordinary Americans to appease powerful special interests and extreme right-wing ideology. They must not be given lifetime appointments on the federal bench.

The Democrats can block them again, but only if they stand united. As a senior Democrat on the all-important Senate Judiciary Committee, Edward Kennedy can either embolden the Democratic resistance, or splinter it. That's why we need to call on him today for the leadership this issue demands.

Please call Senator Kennedy's office and ask him to strongly oppose ALL 20 of Bush's repeat judicial nominees to the United States Courts of Appeals, at:

(202) 224-4543

Then, let us know you called:
http://www.moveonpac.org/judicial/call/

The fight to save our courts only begins with these 20 nominees. Dick Cheney and Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist are now threatening to eliminate the filibuster. The filibuster is a Senate rule that allows 40 or more senators to force further debate before controversial votes -- and minority parties have used it to keep extremists from all sides off the courts for centuries.

It would require a two-thirds vote of the Senate to actually change the filibuster rule, and they know they don't have that much support. So instead, Cheney is planning to use his power as president of the Senate to simply declare the filibuster rule null and void. If Frist can get just 50 senators to support Cheney's ruling, the right to filibuster judges will be gone. It's a power grab so outrageous and unprecedented that even the Republicans call it the "nuclear option."

This all leads up to the next vacancy on the Supreme Court. Without the right to filibuster, there is no reason for Bush to nominate justices acceptable to both parties, and Democrats will be powerless to stop even the most dangerous nominees. With as many as 3 Supreme Court vacancies likely to come up in the next 4 years, the "nuclear option" is Bush's big push to lock in his hard-right, corporate friendly ideology for decades to come.

As this all unfolds, it's critical to get the calls in early -- even before the headlines hit. We can block Bush's 20 repeat nominees, and we can stop Cheney's "nuclear option" if at least 50 Senators oppose it. The first step is ensuring Democratic unity and vocal leadership from key senators like yours.

Please call Senator Kennedy today and ask him to oppose ALL of Bush's repeat nominees to the U.S. Courts of Appeals, and defeat the Republican "nuclear option" to eliminate the filibuster at:

(202) 224-4543

The 20 nominees Bush has resubmitted were rejected because of their extreme positions in favor of corporate interests and against civil rights, the environment, civil liberties, and the concerns of ordinary Americans. Here's a brief summary of just the first four to be considered.

William Myers III has never been a judge and spent most of his career as a lobbyist for the cattle and mining industry.<1> He has written that all habitat conservation laws are unconstitutional because they interfere with potential profit.<2> In 2001, Bush appointed him as the chief lawyer for the Department of the Interior. In that role he continued as a champion of corporate interests, setting his agenda in meetings with former employers he promised not to speak with, and even illegally giving away sacred Native American land to be strip mined.<3>

Terrence Boyle was a legal aide to Jesse Helms. As a judge, his signature decisions have attempted to circumvent federal laws barring employment discrimination by race, gender, and disability.<4> His rulings have been overturned a staggering 120 times by the conservative 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, either due to gross errors in judgment or simple incompetence.<5>

William Pryor Jr. served as Attorney General of Alabama, where he took money from Phillip Morris, fought against the anti-tobacco lawsuit until it was almost over, and cost the people of Alabama billions in settlement money for their healthcare system as a result.<6> He called Roe v. Wade "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history," and has consistently argued against the federal protections for the civil rights of minorities, lesbian and gay couples, women, and the disabled.<7>

William Haynes III served as the chief legal council for the Defense Department, where he championed the outrageous legal theories that led to the torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. Haynes also developed the "enemy combatant" doctrine, which allows for United States citizens to be detained without trial, due process, or access to a lawyer -- forever -- at the sole discretion of the president.<8>
If Democratic resolve falters, dozens of nominees like these will be granted lifetime appointments to the federal courts. And if Cheney and Frist "go nuclear" and take away the filibuster -- paving the way for an even more radical Supreme Court nominee -- there's no telling how bad things could get. We must not let that happen.

Please call Senator Kennedy's office at (202) 224-4543. Ask him to strongly oppose ALL 20 of Bush's repeat judicial nominees, and do everything he can to defeat the "nuclear option" at:

(202) 224-4543

Then, let us know you called:
http://www.moveonpac.org/judicial/call/

Thanks for all that you do,

--Ben Brandzel, Eli Pariser and the entire MoveOn PAC Team
Friday, March 4th, 2005

Sources:

<1> "Unfit to Judge," Community Rights Council, 4/2/04.

<2> "Myers Troubling Legal Philosophy," People for the American Way.

<3> "Environmental Group Calls on Senate to Block Myers Nomination
Ethical Problems and Anti-Environmental Activism Make Him Unfit for Judgeship," Friends of the Earth, 2/5/05.

<4> "Federal Judge Terrence Boyle Unfit for Promotion to Appeals Court," People for the American Way, 2/23/05.

<5> "Eastern District of North Carolina Terrence Boyle Nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit," Alliance for Justice.

<6> Eric Fleischauer, "Pryor Called a Tobacco Sellout," Decatur Daily News, 10/30/02.

<7> Ann Woolner, "Bush Judicial Candidate Shows How Things Change," Bloomberg News, 5/16/03.

<8> Alliance for Justice (www.independentjudiciary.org) and People for the American Way(http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=14172).

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