Friday, June 29, 2007
Southwick seeks support among senators for bid
Because Democrats hold a 10-9 majority on the panel, Southwick needs the support of at least one Democrat to move his nomination for a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals out of the committee and to the full Senate. All nine Republicans on the committee are expected to support Southwick.
Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, on Thursday urged the Senate to move on Southwick's nomination. He warned that a failure to do so "will lead to even more antagonism" between Senate Democrats and Republicans.
Hatch called Southwick "a sterling, good man" who did not deserve to have his nomination derailed.
"I hope my colleagues will stop this tragedy," Hatch said.
Southwick's nomination vote in the committee was postponed for a fifth time this week as his supporters try to bolster support for the candidate.
We need more time to get the votes to pass him out," said Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the highest-ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee.
A retired Mississippi Court of Appeals judge, Southwick, 57, has come under criticism from a number of civil rights and human rights groups that have questioned some of his rulings.
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Thursday, June 14, 2007
Third Delay for Southwick
The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed the Southwick vote for the third time today, but this time it was at the request of Senator Specter. Senate Democrats have what look like enough votes to defeat the Southwick nomination and were prepared to do so at today's meeting. It would be extremely unfortunate if this highly qualified judicial nominee, who sat on the
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Southwick Vote Delayed Again
This morning the Senate Judiciary Committee delayed the Southwick vote again. This occurred after already having postponed the Southwick vote on May 24th to June 7th. Now the vote has now been delayed until next week. According to an article today in the Wall Street Journal, Southwick's "nomination looked safe enough until two weeks ago, when liberal critics, haveing scoured his 7,000-plus rulings on the Mississippi appeals bench, uncovered two allegedly hanging offenses. Both were about words that the judge himself never uttered but were contained in decisions he joined--one involving homosexuals, the other race."
