This letter to the editor published in today’s Washington Post should be required reading–make that required memorizing–for everyone following the Democrats’ grasp for straws to throw at President Bush’s nominee for Supreme Court justice. The author is Warren Belmar, a Washington-area lawyer who holds positions in the American Bar Association and the Federalist Society. Here goes Belmar’s letter nearly in its entirety:
“While Democratic Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), Richard J. Durbin (Ill.) and Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.) speak of the short judicial record of John G. Roberts Jr…., it should be noted that:
“‘ If Judge Roberts’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in May 2001 had not been blocked by the Democratic-controlled Senate, we’d have two more years of judicial opinions to review.
“‘ If Judge Roberts’s nomination to the D.C. Circuit in 1992 had not been blocked by the Democratic-controlled Senate, we’d have 13 years of judicial opinions to review.
“Complaints about a scant paper trail are like Lizzie Borden asking for mercy because she is an orphan. In any event, the past inaction by two Democratic-led Senates with respect to prior nominations of Judge Roberts to the D.C. Circuit hardly justifies the claim that he should now respond to a long stream of questions designed to elicit how he would have voted in various cases had he been on the bench and how he will vote in future cases.
“The judiciary is far from independent when judicial nominees for any court are compelled to answer questions about possible cases before complaints are filed, trials are held, briefs are written or oral arguments are heard. Nor is respect for the judiciary and the cause of justice served when frivolous claims of ‘being out of the mainstream’ are lodged against jurists who vote to uphold legislation passed by Congress and state legislatures.”
I have nothing to add to this succinct and damning summary of the current corrupt, undignified, and inappropriately politicized process of confirming America’s federal judges. Well-said, Mr. Belmar, and kudos.