Last edited: February 20, 2005


Bush Renominates Embattled Judges

PlanetOut, February 16, 2005

By Ann Rostow

SUMMARY: President Bush has renominated 12 of his selections for the federal appellate courts, including several jurists considered hostile to the goals of the LGBT rights movement.

President Bush has renominated 12 of his selections for the federal appellate courts, including several jurists considered hostile to the goals of the LGBT rights movement.

The move is based on the hope that slightly better GOP numbers in the Senate, combined with a post-election spirit of accommodation, might let a few of these previously rejected nominees squeak through the confirmation process. Seven were the victims of Democrat filibusters in the past, while the other five were stalled by the minority party.

The most objectionable name on the list, argue some LGBT leaders, is William Pryor, the former attorney general of Alabama who profited from a stealth appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit when Congress was on break last year. Pryor must now be confirmed by the same Senate that filibustered his nomination prior to the recess appointment one year ago.

Two of the nation’s largest LGBT political groups, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and National Stonewall Democrats, denounced Pryor earlier this week.

Pryor is a fundamentalist Christian, and one of the youngest individuals nominated to a lifetime position on the federal bench. Gay activists particularly dislike the friend-of-the-court brief he signed in defense of the Texas sodomy law in 2003, a brief in which he described homosexuality as a sexual perversion on par with bestiality and others. Pryor has “made it clear,” as HRC Vice President David Smith said, “that he has a strong bias against LGBT Americans.”

Conservatives may argue that Pryor has proved his moderate temperament in the last 12 months, a period when he has not written any dissenting opinions nor strayed from conventional legal analysis. Yet, to the LGBT community, Pryor’s presence on the 11th Circuit last year has made a difference.

Recently the 11th Circuit declined to rehear the challenge to the Florida law that pre-empts gay men and lesbians from applying to become adoptive parents. The 6-6 tie vote by the full court upheld an earlier ruling in favor of Florida by a three-judge panel. Later, the U.S. Supreme Court refused review, leaving the anti-gay ruling intact.

In addition to Pryor, Bush is bringing back Janice Brown of the California Supreme Court, Richard Griffin, David McKeague and Henry Saad, all three of Michigan, Priscilla Owen of Texas, and William Myers of Idaho.


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