Word: estradas
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...political fate of Miguel Estrada, nominated by President Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals, is currently very much in question, thanks to a filibuster by increasingly immovable Senate Democrats, who refuse to allow Estrada's name to come up for a vote, in part because the White House will not release key documents they believe will reveal Estrada's right-wing activism. The would-be judge has not betrayed much of anything in the course of his controversial nomination hearings; Democrats say Estrada, a 42-year-old lawyer, lacks the necessary experience and record to assume the lifelong post...
...fight is in part about ideology. Democrats hear from Republican insiders that Estrada's beliefs are to the right of those of Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court's most conservative Justice. And they fear that Bush would try to elevate Estrada to the high court. The showdown is also about process. Estrada has refused to answer questions about his stands on such issues as abortion and affirmative action, and the White House won't release his old Justice Department memos. Underlying it all is the ill will toward President Bush that has built up as a result of such moves...
...service of an open nomination process (“The Senate should never confirm a lifetime judicial nomination without first having an idea of that person’s interpretation of the law.”), but it is in fact political (Editorial, “Trashing Estrada,” Feb. 19). “If Estrada is confirmed, other staunch conservative candidates are likely to get through as well, helping President Bush in his efforts to pack courts with right wing ideologues...
...Crimson editorial staff, not yet lawyers, would point out what every law student knows, that the difference between lawmaking and lawfinding gets blurred at the edges. Hence, the editorial wants to know how Mr. Estrada interprets the law. That used to mean loosely or strictly, with reference to the powers of Congress. Now it often means, are you an activist in support of privacy-autonomy rights or property rights...
...proposed reconciliation of this constitutional tension is to note the extraordinary qualifications of this candidate and to urge the Senate to confirm Mr. Estrada; actually, all the Democrats have to do is to allow the nomination to come to a vote. The Senate should assert its constitutional power against presidential nominations for judicial office, and arguably even with a filibuster, when the nominee does not possess the high qualifications for federal judicial office. Mr. Estrada’s record in the Solicitor General’s Office suggests that he is no ideologue. When high ability and good character...