The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Civil Rights Groups Urge Senate Judiciary Committee to Say 'No' to Owen

Feature Story by Teresa Kraly - 8/6/2002

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights has announced opposition to the nomination of Priscilla Owen, a Texas Supreme Court Justice, to serve on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Owen was nominated by President Bush and testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, July 23, 2002.
In a letter to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D ? VT), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, LCCR and thirteen other civil rights organizations, including the National Organization for Women, the NAACP, and People for the American Way, stated: "Our exhaustive and careful review of Priscilla Owen's record on the Texas Supreme Court has left us with little alternative but to oppose her confirmation because of her activist and extreme views on important civil rights, worker's rights, consumer's rights, and women's rights issues."

People for the American Way reports "as 19 Texas civil rights, women's rights, labor, consumer, and other organizations recently concluded, 'Owen's rulings often favor the interest of corporate Texas or government at the expense of ordinary Texans.' "

Examples of Owen's controversial opinions cited in the Letter include:

• In Quantum Chemical Corp. v. Toennies, 47 S.W.3d 473 (Tex. 2001), Owen effectively tried to rewrite a key Texas civil rights law to make it much more difficult for employees to prove a violation of their rights. The statute Owen would have weakened also prohibits many other forms of employment discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of race, sex, and disability.
  
  
• In Helena Chemical Co. v. Wilkins, 47 S.W.3d 486 (Tex. 2001), Owen joined a dissent from the court's ruling in favor of a farmer in a suit brought against a seed manufacturer for deceptive trade practices and breach of warranty, which shows Owen's opinions consistently favor businesses over consumers and workers.
  
  
• In Texas Workers Compensation Commission v. Garcia, 893 S.W. 2d 504(Tex. 1994), Lawrence v. CDB Services, Inc., 44 S.W.3d 544 (Tex. 2001) and in Sonnier v. Chisholm-Ryder, Owen wrote or joined opinions that severely limited the ability of workers to recover for on-the-job injuries.

Many have criticized Priscilla Owen's views on fundamental rights as being outside the mainstream of judicial thought. A large coalition of progressive groups believe her opinions reflect a judicial activism that is inconsistent with President Bush's stated intention to nominate judges to the federal courts who will interpret the law, not make it.