Litigation

Judicial Nominee Advances Despite Chamber Opposition

By Peter Hardin

The Senate Judiciary Committee backed 13-6 on Thursday the nomination of a controversial plaintiffs’ lawyer to a federal judgeship in Rhode Island, despite heightened opposition from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The vote on President Obama’s nomination of John “Jack” McConnell fell primarily along party lines, according to posts by The Blog of Legal Times and The Providence Journal. An outspoken Democrat and party campaign contributor, McConnell is the managing partner of the Providence office of South Carolina-based Motley Rice.

The Chamber had questioned earlier whether McConnell could be impartial on the bench (see Gavel Grab). This week, it said in a letter it would count votes linked to McConnell’s nomination for its annual report ranking how lawmakers voted in Congress on issues of concern to the group, the National Law Journal reported.

It was the first time that the Chamber planned to include votes on a judicial nomination in its ranking. “Mr. McConnell’s actions during his career as a personal injury lawyer and past statements demonstrate his disregard for the rule of law, an activist judicial philosophy and obvious bias against business,” its letter said.

Democratic Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said in a statement, “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been outspoken in opposing consumer protection, campaign finance reform, the minimum wage, action on climate change, and holding polluters accountable.” They added, “And it is also no surprise that Rhode Islanders of all backgrounds don’t agree with these outlandish claims because they know Jack McConnell to be highly qualified in every respect.”

The Senate committee votes sent McConnell’s nomination for a U.S. district court judgeship to the floor of the full Senate.

Full post as published by The Gavel on June 17, 2010 (boomark / email).