The Washington, DC-based People for the American Way (PFAW) issued a statement yesterday in which the group argued that members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have willfully obstructed the progress of President Clinton’s judicial appointees, many of whom are women or minorities.
PFAW revealed that the Senate Judiciary Committee did not hold a single confirmation hearing during the first quarter of 1999, and has failed to take action this year regarding 31 different nominees submitted by the President. This, despite the fact that some of these nominees have waited up to 3 years for the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote on their nominations.
According to PFAW, seven of the 10 appointees who have been waiting the longest for Committee action, including Richard Paez, Helene White, Ronald Gould, Marsha Berzon, Timonthy Dyk, Barry Goode, Ronnie White, Lynette Norton, Virginia Phillips, and Legrome Davis, are either women or minority men.
PFAW’s Web site states, “The right wing is working to intimidate federal judges and to undercut the separation of powers by challenging the courts’ power to overturn unconstitutional laws and delaying indefinitely the confirmation of nominees to the bench.”
