Bush Judges Confirm Opponents' Fears

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“President Bush has fallen far short in keeping his promise to appoint judges who will interpret the law, not make it,” said People For the American Way Foundation President Ralph G. Neas. “Judges nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate are undermining Americans’ rights, liberties, and legal protections.”

The report, http://media.pfaw.org/PDF/Judiciary/09-28_ConfirmedJudgesReportFinal.pdf">Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears, covers cases decided between September 1, 2004 and May 31, 2006. It provides a significant update to preliminary analyses of Bush-nominated judges that PFAWF published in 2004. The new report documents that troubling trends identified in earlier reviews have continued as more Bush appointees gain more experience and tenure on the appellate courts – more and more opinions seek, sometimes successfully, to cut back broadly on Americans’ rights under our Constitution and laws.

“The cumulative impact of the Bush administration’s ideological approach to judicial nominations is beginning to be felt,” said People For the American Way Foundation Vice President and Legal Director Elliot M. Mincberg. “What we’re seeing is unfortunately exactly what the Federalist Society and White House hoped for when they promoted one ultraconservative ideologue after another to the appeals courts.”

For example, Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears reports that two controversial Bush appellate judges – Michael McConnell on the Tenth Circuit and Lavenski Smith on the Eighth Circuit – cast deciding votes in rulings that significantly restricted individuals’ rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, including one decision that struck down a Department of Labor regulation protecting workers.

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=22553