Litigation

Foes Organize Against Butler Nomination

By Peter Hardin

President Obama’s nomination of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis L. Butler Jr. to the federal district court appears to be drawing organized opposition from a number of conservatives, including former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese.

A press release on the Web site of the group Concerned Women for America declared, “Senate Should Reject Nomination of Louis Butler to District Court in Wisconsin.” A public statement listed the names of 20 individuals, including Meese; Curt Levey, executive director of the Committee for Justice; Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform; and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.

Under the individuals’ names, the press release offered a “Memo for the Movement” and said Justice Butler’s  “record demonstrates a far-left agenda of personal beliefs and political ideology that he imposes from the bench.” It listed a series of criticisms of specific decisions. It also appeared to use language that might be cited to justify a filibuster of a nomination, saying his nomination represents an instance of “extraordinary circumstances” where the Senate should reject a nominee.

In 2005, a procedural blowup over judicial filibusters was averted in the Senate when a bipartisan group of senators negotiated a compromise; as part of that agreement, members of the group agreed to oppose efforts to filibuster future judicial nominees unless “extraordinary circumstances” were involved.

The Senate Judiciary Committee recently approved Justice Butler’s nomination by a 12-7 vote, with all Republicans opposed. Justice Butler, the first African American seated on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, was defeated last year in an ugly election contest. The winner,  then-Judge Michael Gableman,  now faces an ethics complaint accusing him of lying in a campaign ad aired against Justice Butler.

Obama said when the nomination was announced,  ?Louis Butler has dedicated his career to public service. And in so doing, he has displayed unwavering integrity and an unyielding commitment to justice.”

The Washington Examiner published a bylined commentary by its editorial page editor stating that opposition to Justice Butler’s nomination was “coalescing,” and repeating  criticisms of the nominee that were published on the Concerned Women for America Web site, many of them verbatim. To read more about Justice Butler’s nomination, click here for Gavel Grab. To learn more about the partisanship surrounding many federal judicial nominations, see Justice at Stake’s issue page.

Full post as published by The Gavel on December 16, 2009 (boomark / email).