GOP Gets Delay on Court Nominee

WASHINGTON —  Facing defeat on a party-line vote, Senate Republicans on Thursday were granted a week’s delay in deciding the fate of embattled Mississippi trial judge Charles W. Pickering.

An angry Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) accused “extreme left Washington interest groups” of “lynching” the 64-year-old judge for political gain.

“Make no mistake: These groups have their own political agenda, which is to paint President Bush’s nominees as extremists and block them from the bench,” Hatch said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which Pickering’s nomination was to be considered.

Had the committee voted as scheduled, Pickering’s nomination to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans appeared headed for a 10-9 defeat. Approval by the committee is needed for the nomination to be considered by the full Senate.

All 10 Democrats signaled that they oppose Pickering’s elevation from a U.S. district court to the appellate court, while all nine Republicans said they supported Bush’s nominee.

The Republicans are hoping one of the Democrats will switch sides and support Pickering, or at least vote to send his nomination to the floor. There, Republican leaders think they can muster a majority.

But the sharp exchanges at Thursday’s hearing suggest that the sides have hardened.

Several Democrats took exception to Hatch’s comment about “lynching.” They noted that dozens of President Clinton’s nominees were blocked during the 1990s when Hatch and the Republicans were in the majority.

Current Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) insisted that the Democrats have not portrayed Pickering as racist or extremist. Instead, they described him as a bumbler on the bench whose rulings were often reversed.

They also said Pickering had a disconcerting habit of injecting his personal and political views into legal decisions.

“I think the nominee’s past views and actions during a difficult time in Mississippi were not irrelevant, but I based my decision on his years on the bench. It is a record that is replete with examples of bad judging,” Leahy said.

For example, the judge often threw out, before a trial, lawsuits brought by prison inmates and civil rights plaintiffs. In at least 25 cases, the 5th Circuit reversed Pickering’s rulings as mistaken, Leahy said.

The rough, highly politicized dispute over Pickering’s nomination is seen by liberal and conservative activists as the first skirmish in what could be a political war if a Supreme Court seat becomes vacant.

A coalition of civil rights and women’s rights groups targeted Pickering for defeat based on his long record of conservative activism and his right-leaning decisions as a judge. They include People for the American Way, the Alliance for Justice, the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Abortion Rights Action League.

Supporters of Pickering say he has been unfairly tarnished because of Mississippi’s history of segregation and racism. In 1967, as a young lawyer, Pickering testified against a local Ku Klux Klan leader. Republicans lauded his “moral courage,” and they pointed out that many black Mississippians have stood up for Pickering.

He also earned a “well-qualified” rating from the American Bar Assn. this year.

Despite the furor over the nomination, it is not clear that the outcome has much significance to the judiciary.

The conservative-leaning 5th Circuit has nine Republican appointees and five Democratic appointees. If Pickering is confirmed, he would add one more vote to the conservative side. If he is not, he will continue to serve as a U.S. district judge for southern Mississippi.