Litigation

Political Fight Erupts over Liu Nomination

By Peter Hardin

Sharp partisan squabbling erupted Friday in a Senate hearing over the nomination of Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu for a seat on the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

An Associated Press article called it “a likely test of President Barack Obama’s ability to win confirmation for a liberal court pick.”

Liu was the subject of “concerted attacks” mounted by Republicans, the Washington Post reported, saying “both parties see [the session] as a warm-up for the coming fight to replace Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court.”

Republican senators questioned whether he had adequate courtroom experience to serve on the appeals bench, The Blog of Legal Times reported. He is 39 and has not served as a judge.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, blasted some of Liu’s writings as ?vicious, emotionally and racially charged,? according to a Politico article.

Liu “apologized for failing to fully disclose his writings and public speeches to Senators and pledged to uphold the values of the Constitution if confirmed,” according to ABC News.

The nominee was defended by Democratic senators. You can read more from Justice at Stake’s Twitter coverage of the hearing, available at http://twitter.com/JusticeStake. Or you can check out earlier Gavel Grab posts about Liu’s nomination.

Full post as published by The Gavel on April 16, 2010 (boomark / email).