Feature Story from civilrights.org
Jenna Sauber
April 11, 2007
Senator Edward Kennedy, D. Mass., recently called for judicial nomination reform in response to controversial conservative appointments by President Bush.
Sen. Kennedy called for the reform of the confirmation process at the March 28 release of the Alliance for Justice's documentary, Quiet Revolution, a film highlighting a conservative movement to dominate and transform the role of the judiciary in American government.
"In choosing nominees for the federal courts, particularly the Supreme Court, President Bush selected ideologues, and then sought to circumvent the process by which the Senate obtains information about the nominees' legal views," Sen. Kennedy said.
Sen. Kennedy said that "advice" from the Senate needs to be brought back into the process, as laid out in the Constitution. He also said that it is important that nominees share their thinking on constitutional questions with the Senate Judiciary Committee, unlike Supreme Court nominees John Roberts and Samuel Alito who skirted dozens of questions regarding their views on issues like the role of executive power, and civil rights.
Sen. Kennedy said that the Senate Judiciary Committee must have the same access to the nominees' writings and other relevant documents as the White House well before the hearing in order to develop a thorough list of questions.
Sen. Kennedy charged that President Bush — more than any other president before him – has denied the Senate information needed in the confirmation process
"It's essential that we learn enough about their legal views to be certain that they will make good on the simple promise engraved in marble over the entrance to the Supreme Court: ‘Equal Justice Under Law,'" said Sen. Kennedy.
The senator believes Justices Roberts' and Alito's nomination hearings were inadequate because the two nominees avoided thorough explanation and review of their judicial philosophies.
"The only way to know whether a nominee will meet the high bar for confirmation is to have an honest, in-depth exchange during the nominations process," Sen. Kennedy said.
Civil rights groups like AFJ opposed many of Bush's nominees to the courts, including high court nominees Roberts and Alito. AFJ President Nan Aron described the Bush administration's judicial selection process as the most ideologically-driven area on his agenda.
Federal judgeships are lifetime appointments and the process of nominating and confirming them needs to become a substantive fixture in our public debates, on the level with which we discuss foreign policy, health care, veterans issues, the environment and more," Aron said.
AFJ's film documents concern in the civil rights community that landmark laws such as the Clean Water Act, Voting Rights Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act might be overturned.
