Senators Block Pryor Nomination
Feature Story by civilrights.org staff - 7/31/2003
The U.S. Senate has failed to end debate on the controversial nomination of William Pryor to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The move to filibuster Pryor's nomination was applauded by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR).Pryor is one of the architects of the so-called "states' rights" movement that seeks to limit the power of Congress to enact legislation that protects civil and constitutional rights.
Wade Henderson, executive director of LCCR, noted "William Pryor is far beyond the mainstream of America. His words and abysmal record in protecting civil, constitutional, and human rights demonstrate that he is an avowed extremist and legal activist."
For example, in United States v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 598 (2000), the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the federal remedy for victims of sexual assault and violence in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was unconstitutional. As Pryor has proudly stated, Alabama was the only state to challenge the constitutionality of VAWA, while 36 states filed briefs urging that the provision be held constitutional. Pryor has also argued that the Supreme Court should cut back on the protections of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
In Hope v. Pelzer, Pryor defended the practice of handcuffing Alabama prison inmates to outdoor posts in the hot sun without access to water as punishment for disruptive conduct while on chain gangs. The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed his argument, calling the practice "antithetical to human dignity" and chastising the act as "both degrading and dangerous."
Pryor also submitted an amicus brief in support of the Texas anti-sodomy law at issue in Lawrence v. Texas. In the brief, he maintains that any right to choose one's sexual partner must also "extend to activities like prostitution, adultery, necrophilia, bestiality, possession of child pornography, and even incest and pedophilia."
Ralph G. Neas, president of People For the American Way, called Pryor "one of the most dangerous judicial nominees of this administration that we've seen yet."
Democrats also voiced the need for a continuing investigation into statements made during a June Senate Judiciary Committee hearing when Pryor told senators on the committee that, during his work with the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), he was unaware of ever soliciting from businesses that would fall under his jurisdiction as Alabama Attorney General. Documents have since come to light suggesting Pryor did, in fact, make fund-raising calls to such corporations and casting doubt on other statements he made regarding RAGA.
