Obama faces fight in choice for judge Liu called liberal, too inexperienced The SenateJudiciary Committee approved a controversial appeals court nomination Thursday, setting up the first big battle in this Congress over an Obama judicial nomination.
The panel’s party line 10-8 vote in favor of University of California at Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu portends a tough partisan struggle in the full Senate, where Republicans are in position to successfully filibuster his pending confirmation — a move that would hand President Obama a high-profile judicial defeat.
“While I have pledged — and indeed demonstrated — cooperation in moving forward on consensus nominations, there is no doubt that Mr. Liu does not fall into that category,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the committee’s senior Republican.
Conservatives say Mr. Liu is far too liberal — he’s a past chairman of the progressive American Constitution Society and a former board member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. They also complain he lacks judicial experience.
Supporters counter the professor, a former Rhodes scholar, is a more-than-qualified candidate and has been unfairly demonized by the political right.
“In Professor Liu’s case, I believe the views expressed in his writings fall far outside the mainstream of the traditional American view of law and judging, going so far as to distort the meaning of plain words beyond reality,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican and member of the SenateJudiciary Committee.
SenateJudiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, accused Republicans of playing politics with the nomination, saying they opposed Mr. Liu even before hearing him testify before the panel.
“Professor Liu’s answers under oath and his reputation as a well-respected constitutional law professor with sterling credentials paint a very different picture than the caricature created by the attacks from pressure groups that came as soon as he was nominated,” Mr. Leahy said.
The Vermont Democrat also said Republicans were using a double standard with Mr. Liu by demanding “a level of specificity” about how he might rule as a judge they’ve deemed inappropriate for nominees nominated by Republican presidents.
President Obama tapped Mr. Liu more than a year ago to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which includes California and much of the rest of the West. His nomination stalled in the Senate amid Republican opposition, and Mr. Obama renominated him for the post in January. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/7/obama-faces-fight-in-choice-for-judge/
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