[Sosfbay-discuss] Feinstein gets Dem. criticism, GOP raves over judge confirmation

[Brian Good]

I wish we had another McKinney to run against Feinstein.



> Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2007 02:07:14 -0700
> From: JamBoi at Greens.org
> To: cal-forum at cagreens.org; sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org
> Subject: [Sosfbay-discuss] Feinstein gets Dem. criticism,	GOP raves over judge confirmation
> 
> http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7270283
> Feinstein gets Dem. criticism, GOP raves over judge confirmation
> By ERICA WERNER Associated Press Writer
> Article Launched: 10/24/2007 05:18:28 PM PDT
> 
> WASHINGTON—Sen. Dianne Feinstein's pivotal role in the confirmation of a
> controversial judge to a federal appeals court drew angry criticism from
> fellow Democrats on Wednesday—along with Republican applause.
> 
> Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, issued a press release saying she was
> "incredibly disappointed" in Feinstein, while Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.,
> said he would devote a chapter to the California senator in a future book
> on leadership.
> 
> Feinstein was the only Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee to side
> with Republicans in favor of Judge Leslie Southwick. That allowed his
> nomination to get to the Senate floor, where it was approved 59-38 on
> Wednesday.
> 
> Critics say Southwick has shown an insensitivity to the history of civil
> rights struggles in the 5th Circuit, which is based in New Orleans and
> serves Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. In one example, as a state
> appeals court judge in Mississippi, he was involved in a 1998 decision
> that upheld the reinstatement of a social worker who used a racial slur in
> reference to a co-worker.
> 
> Three years later, Southwick joined a ruling against a bisexual mother in
> a custody case. He also joined what some activists said was an anti-gay
> concurring opinion.
> 
> Feinstein defended her decision in a long Senate floor speech Tuesday,
> saying she'd given it much thought.
> 
> "I think Judge Southwick made mistakes by concurring in the two opinions
> in question, but I don't think those rulings define his
> Advertisement
> views. I don't believe they outweigh the other factors that suggest Judge
> Southwick should be confirmed," Feinstein said.
> 
> She cited Southwick's qualifications and character, the need to fill the
> longtime 5th Circuit vacancy, and the importance of looking ahead to the
> treatment of judicial nominees put forward by a future Democratic
> president.
> 
> Feinstein noted that Southwick had been awarded a judicial excellence
> award by the Mississippi State Bar, and quoted from a letter he sent her
> in which he said he wished the opinion in the racial slur decision had
> more emphatically decried use of the n-word.
> 
> That wasn't enough for Lee.
> 
> "California is a state where we pride ourselves on civil rights, legal
> justice under the law, and I think the people of California would not want
> to see Southwick confirmed, and it's very disappointing," Lee said in an
> interview.
> 
> She also said Feinstein had declined to meet with or talk to members of
> the Congressional Black Caucus at the time of the Judiciary Committee vote
> in August.
> 
> In response, Feinstein spokesman Scott Gerber said: "Lines of
> communication were open between our two offices. Our chief of staff spoke
> to his counterpart in Rep. Lee's office at length prior to the Judiciary
> Committee vote."
> 
> Feinstein drew scathing criticism from Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles,
> after the Judiciary Committee vote. Waters said at a Congressional Black
> Caucus press conference at the time that if Feinstein "continues to relate
> to this caucus in the way she's been doing ... we will have no alternative
> but to not only share this information, but to fight against her coming
> back to the United States Senate."
> 
> Waters was not available for comment Wednesday.
> 
> California's other senator, Democrat Barbara Boxer, voted against
> Southwick on Wednesday.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> sosfbay-discuss mailing list
> sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org
> http://lists.cagreens.org/mailman/listinfo/sosfbay-discuss

_________________________________________________________________
Climb to the top of the charts!  Play Star Shuffle:  the word scramble challenge with star power.
http://club.live.com/star_shuffle.aspx?icid=starshuffle_wlmailtextlink_oct
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.cagreens.org/pipermail/sosfbay-discuss_lists.cagreens.org/attachments/20071025/468edaea/attachment.html>