-->
Send via SMS
Send via SMS
Message from Craig S. Burkhardt Republican National Lawyers Association
About RNLA
Find A Lawyer
Practice Areas
Local Contacts
Newsletter
Events and Education
Membership Application
Donate
Become a Sponsor
Photo Gallery
Press
Leadership
Leadership
Home

Links
Members Only
Judicial Confirmation Crisis Blogs RNLA Logo

Welcome to the RNLA's new Blog on the Judicial Confirmation Crisis. We trust that all users will conduct their activities here with the highest degree of professionalism and sensitivity. As a free exchange, both this area and the information contained in it are neither endorsed nor officially sanctioned by RNLA.


Thursday, August 24, 2006

 

ABA Rating for 5th Circuit Nominee Angers Specter

Too often when the ABA plays liberal politics with nominees, Republicans rightly allege that the rating is evidence of the ABA's bias and that is the end of it. (Interestingly, when the ABA rates a Republican nominee well, the Democrats try to ignore the rating.) However, never before has a Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman made the ABA itself the issue. But that is just what moderate Republican Senator Arlen Specter is attempting to do. As seen elsewhere in this blog and on the web, the rating of Michael Wallace is not about his record as a lawyer but rather about his time on the Legal Services Corporation during which his positions were vehemently opposed by current ABA President Greco and Chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary Tober.

Let's hope Senator Specter is successful in not only having the ABA re-rate Wallace but also forcing the ABA to change their procedures. Please read and sign the letter above for one idea and a small way all lawyers interested in fairness can help.

If the ABA continues to put personal liberal vendettas above the law, then they should be removed from any formal role in the confirmation process.

Comments:
Wallace's situation has been much chronicled, however Judge Terrence Boyle a nominee to the 4th Circuit COA may also take the cake.

While on the Senate floor awaiting for a fair "up or down" vote, the liberal ABA decided to drop Boyle's unanimously well-qualified rating to a majority qualified rating with a minority well-qualified.

Boyle is a judge who has served with honor and distinction for over 22 years, while writing multiple opinions for the court he was nominated to and serving as Chief Judge of the eastern district of North Carolina for seven years, yet without any explanation, at a crucial time, the ABA attempts to hijack a nomination that has encountered every delay tactic you could think of.

Wallace's situation nothwithstanding, Specter should investigate the timing and motive behind Judge Boyle's downgrade, too.
 
Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

RNLA Logo

RNLA Home

RNLA Home }