Visit MoveOn.com Now. Bush's court-stacking starts today

[Ian David]

Help Fight Bush's Plan to Stack the Courts
http://www.moveonpac.org/judges/

President Bush has just re-nominated 20 highly partisan, pro-corporate candidates for the U.S. Courts of Appeals -- the second highest courts in the land. All 20 of these nominees already been rejected by Senate Democrats, compared to over 200 approved, because they so consistently favor special interest greed over the rights of average Americans. They were stopped before, they should be stopped again.

Please sign today to tell both of your Senators:
"Please stand firm against all 20 of President Bush's repeat nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals, and don't change the rules to force confirmation."

http://www.moveonpac.org/judges/



Dear MoveOn member,

As we write this, the Senate is debating the nomination of mining and cattle
industry lobbyist William Myers III for a lifetime appointment to the
Circuit Court of Appeals -- the second highest court in the land. Myers is
the first of 20 nominees Bush has re-submitted in his second term. All 20
repeat nominees were rejected last term by Senate Democrats (as compared to
204 judges they accepted) because these nominees consistently sided with
corporate special interests over the rights of ordinary Americans.

The Senate has the power to approve or reject judicial nominations because
judges -- above all else -- must be trusted by Americans on all sides to
rule fairly. So why does Bush refuse to send new nominees both parties can
agree on? Because while his presidency will be over in 4 years, the judges
he appoints will be on the bench for the rest of their lives. This is Bush's
big push to lock in his hard right, corporate-friendly ideology for decades
to come -- and that is exactly why we must not back down now.

The fight begins today. The Myers vote is a key test -- and may well
determine whether Bush can stack the judiciary, all the way up to the
Supreme Court, with a steady stream of hard right, pro-corporate judges.
It's crucial that our Senators know that we out here in America are counting
on them to hold the line against all 20 of Bush's rejected, partisan judges.

Please sign today:

http://www.moveonpac.org/judges/

Here's a brief summary of just the first three of the 20 partisan judges
re-nominated by President Bush.
William Myers III has never been a judge and spent most of his career as a
lobbyist for the cattle and mining industry.<1> He has written that all
habitat conservation laws are unconstitutional because they interfere with
potential profit.<2> In 2001, Bush appointed him as the chief lawyer for the
Department of the Interior. In that role he continued as a champion of
corporate interests, setting his agenda in meetings with former employers he
promised not to speak with, and even illegally giving away sacred Native
American land to be strip mined.<3>

Terrence Boyle was a legal aide to Jesse Helms. As a judge, his signature
decisions have attempted to circumvent federal laws barring employment
discrimination by race, gender, and disability.<4> His rulings have been
overturned a staggering 120 times by the conservative 4th District Court of
Appeals, either due to gross errors in judgment or simple incompetence.<5>

William Pryor Jr. served as Attorney General of Alabama, where he took money
from Phillip Morris, fought against the anti-tobacco lawsuit until it was
almost over, and cost the people of Alabama billions in settlement money for
their healthcare system as a result.<6> He called Roe v. Wade "the worst
abomination of constitutional law in our history," and has consistently
argued against the federal protections for the civil rights of minorities,
lesbian and gay couples, women, and the disabled.<7>
If we falter now, then decades down the road dozens of judges like this will
still be ruling in favor of unchecked corporate greed and against the basic
principles of accountability and fairness.

The Bush Administration is prepared to stop at nothing to smash Democratic
resistance and stack the courts. As President of the Senate, Dick Cheney has
even threatened to push these 20 through by using a parliamentary trick so
abusive even he calls it the "nuclear option." If they can get away with it,
the "nuclear option" would eliminate the right to filibuster -- a rule that
has allowed 40 or more Senators to keep extremists from all sides off the
courts for centuries.

If that happens, when Supreme Court vacancies begin to open up in a few
months there will be no motivation for Bush to nominate justices acceptable
to both parties, and no ability for Democrats to oppose even the most
dangerous extremists.

We must draw the line here, by stopping Bush's 20 repeat nominees. They were
rejected once -- they can and must be rejected again.

Please sign the petition today:
http://www.moveonpac.org/judges/
<http://www.moveonpac.org/judges/?id=5135-3535476-.8Hf2uH7Muy4Abta3i9.MQ>

Thanks for all that you do,

--Ben Brandzel, Eli Pariser and the whole MoveOn PAC Team
Tuesday, March 1st, 2005

Notes:

<1> "Unfit to Judge," Community Rights Council, 4/2/04.

<2> "Myers Troubling Legal Philosophy," People for the American Way.

<3> "Environmental Group Calls on Senate to Block Myers Nomination: Ethical
Problems and Anti-Environmental Activism Make Him Unfit for Judgeship,"
Friends of the Earth, 2/5/05.

<4> "Federal Judge Terrence Boyle Unfit for Promotion to Appeals Court,"
People for the American Way, 2/23/05.

<5> "Eastern District of North Carolina Terrence Boyle Nominated to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit," Alliance for Justice.

<6> Eric Fleischauer, "Pryor Called a Tobacco Sellout," Decatur Daily News,
10/30/02.

<7> Ann Woolner, "Bush Judicial Candidate Shows How Things Change,"
Bloomberg News, 5/16/03. PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.



See also:


Why does he do it? Well, Bush is out in just 3 1/2 years. The last two are traditionally lame duck years, so nothing gets done. But these judges are on the bench for LIFE, and ensures that the "What the Fuck" way of life Bush has picked for our country will continue ad nausem.

More:
http://www.politick.info/