Vote in Senate Defeats Judicial Confirmation of Myers
Feature Story by civilrights.org staff - 7/20/2004
The Senate today rejected the confirmation of William G. Myers III to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Republican leadership's effort to end debate and force a vote on the controversial nominee, which requires 60 votes, failed 44 to 53.About 180 civil rights, environmental, and labor organizations had opposed Myers' confirmation due to controversy over his past work as a longtime business lobbyist and former Solicitor General of the Department of the Interior.
"The Senate's vote today against invoking cloture on Myers' confirmation is a victory for the civil rights community and all Americans," said Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR). "On behalf of LCCR and the communities it represents, I thank the senators who voted in support of a fair and independent federal judiciary."
Myers was nominated in May 2003 and cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee along a party-line vote in April.
In a letter to senators in February, LCCR noted that in his role as solicitor general and as a private lobbyist for grazing and mining industries, "Myers [had] shown an alarming insensitivity to the heritage and traditions of Native Americans." This was of "particular concern," according to LCCR, because the Ninth Circuit presides over millions of Native Americans from more than 100 tribes.
A National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) 2003 resolution cites Myers' "deep lack of respect and understanding of the unique political relationship between the federal government and tribal governments" as well as his "demonstrated inability to set aside personal bias to act in a neutral and objective manner."
Civil rights advocates also were wary of Myers' "states' rights" agenda, which aims to limit federal protections of civil rights that many minority groups have relied upon.
Environmental groups oppose Myers' confirmation based on amicus briefs he filed in support of an elevation of property rights over environmental protections.
