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Feminist Court Watch
Particularly Egregious Nominee to Federal District Court
J. Leon Holmes
- Lawyer in private practice and adjunct professor at University of Arkansas School of Law
- Believes Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey decided wrongly because "the Constitution was intended to reflect the principles of natural law" and both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey "constitutionalize the theory of moral relativism, which is the antithesis of natural law."
- Served as Secretary for the Unborn Child Amendment Committee, a group working to pass a state constitutional amendment outlawing all abortions from conception to birth except when the woman's life is in danger, with no exceptions for rape, incest or the woman's health.
- Opposed abortion exceptions for rape victims, callously saying, "Concern for rape victims is a red herring because conceptions from rape occur with approximately the same frequency as snowfall in Miami." Note: Studies show 25,000 to 32,000 women become pregnant each year in the US as a result of rape.
- In a 1997 article, he wrote, ".a wife is to subordinate herself to her husband."
- Compared pro-choice advocates to Nazis and abortion to slavery. Indirectly labeled abortion providers "criminals."
Worst Pending Nominees to Federal Circuit Courts
Claude A. Allen
- Deputy Secretary for the US Department of Health and Human Services
- Supported restrictions on abortion rights including waiting
periods and requirements for biased information.
- Served as a Director of the Board of Peacemaker Ministries,
which condemns litigation, including opposing divorce and suits
by children who have been sexually abused by members of the clergy.
- Helped draft Virginia’s parental notification law and
vocal supporter of abstinence-only sex education programs.
- Backed the Bush Administration’s decision to remove information
about condom effectiveness and teen pregnancy prevention from
the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website.
Judge Terrence Boyle
- Former Legislative Assistant to Senator Jesse Helms
- Federal District Court Judge in North Carolina
- Ruled against African Americans in two voting rights act cases;
his opinions were overruled. Cannon v. North Carolina State
Board of Education, 917 F.Supp. 387 (E.D.N.C. 1996), reversed
959 F.Supp. 289 (E.D.N.C. 1997) and 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 31794
(4th Cir. 1997); Cromartie v. Hunt, 133 F. Supp. 407 (E.D.N.C.
2000), reversed No. 991864 (U.S. April 18, 2001).
- Ruled against an agreement between the United States Department
of Justice and the State of North Carolina that would have settled
the United States' claim that North Carolina discriminated against
women in the hiring of prison guards. This decision was overruled.
United States v. North Carolina, 917 F. Supp. 1257 (E.D.N.C.
1996), reversed, 180 F. 3d 574 (4th Cir. 1999).
- Ruled against the application of the Americans with Disabilities
Act to states; his reasoning was adopted by the Supreme Court.
Brown v. State of North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles,
987 F. Supp. 431 (E.D.N.C. 1997).
Janice Rogers Brown
- Supreme Court Judge in California
- In her public speeches, bitterly critizes the legal theory that
underlies the right to privacy, abortion, and access to birth
control.
- Voted in favor of California's parental notification law. Am.
Acad. of Pediatrics v. Lungren, 940 P.2d 797 (Cal. 1997).
- Voted to protect racist speech in the work place under the First
Amendment. Aguilar v. Avis, 980 P2d 846 (Cal. 1999).
- Interpreted California's proposition 209 to include a ban on
outreach to women and minorities. High Voltage Wire Works
v. City of San Jose, 12 P 3d 1068 (Cal. 2000).
Miguel Estrada
- Has not demonstrated a commitment to women's rights or civil
rights. The burden should be on the nominee for a lifetime appointment
to show that he deserves to serve as a federal judge. Estrada's
work and writings have created no evidence that he supports women's
rights or civil rights.
- Refused to answer questions about his position on abortion rights
or basic civil rights. During his hearing in the fall of 2002,
Estrada was asked whether he thought Roe v. Wade and
Romer v. Evans (the case that struck down Colorado's
anti-gay rights measure) were correctly decided. He declined to
answer, stating that he had not read the briefs, listened to the
arguments or researched the issues. He gave a similar answer when
asked about Supreme Court cases in the areas of environmental
protection and labor rights.
- Because he refuses to reveal where he stands, Estrada has been
opposed by a host of civil rights and women's rights groups including
the Feminist Majority, NAACP, MALDEF, Alliance for Justice, NARAL
Pro-choice America, Planned Parenthood Federation of America,
National Council of Jewish Women, Natural Resources Defense Council,
ADA Watch/National Coalition For Disability Rights, and Society
of American Law Teachers.
D. Michael Fisher
- Attorney General of Pennsylvania
- Opposes abortion except only to save the life of the woman
- As Attorney General of Pennsylvania, signed on to brief asking
the Supreme Court to uphold a Nebraska law banning safe abortion
procedures even though Pennsylvania did not have a similar law
(Stenberg v. Carhart)
- As a state legislator, voted for the Pennsylvania Abortion Control
Act, which required spousal notification, biased counseling of
women seeking abortions, a 24-hour waiting period, parental consent,
and reporting requirements for facilities that perform abortions
- Found by a jury to have maliciously or wantonly violated the
federal civil rights of state employees and ordered to pay $100,000,
just three months before he was nominated
- Opposed by coalition of women’s rights, civil rights,
and human rights organizations read
coalition letter>>
Thomas B. Griffith
- Senior Legal Counsel for the Mormon-affiliated Brigham Young University.
- Let Washington, DC law license lapse, and has been practicing law in Utah for past four years without a license.
- As member of President's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics attempted to weaken Title IX statute, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.
- As member of President's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics introduced a proposal, which ultimately failed, that called for eliminating one of the three critical tests used to evaluate compliance with Title IX, the "substantial proportionality" test. This test measures whether educational institutions are offering athletic opportunities that are in substantial proportion to each gender's representation in the student body.
Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl
- State trial judge in California
- Member of the Federalist
Society
- Signed brief urging that Roe v. Wade be overruled. United States'
brief in Thornburgh v. ACOG, 476 U.S. 474 (1986). Former
Solicitor General Charles Fried wrote that "the most aggressive
memo" in support of urging a reversal of Roe in the Thornburgh
brief came from Kuhl and one other Justice Department attorney.
Charles Fried, Order and the Law: Arguing the Reagan Revolution-a
Firsthand Account, 33 (1991).
- Filed an amicus brief supporting the domestic gag rule on behalf
of an organization of physicians that supports abortion only to
save the life of the mother. American Academy of Medical Ethics'
brief in Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U.S. 173 (1991).
- Supported tax-exempt status for Bob Jones University. New York
Times, February 3, 1982.
William G. Myers III
- Solicitor of the US Department of the Interior.
- Strongly favors a retreat from the right to privacy, on which the rights to birth control and abortion rest.
- Has repeatedly supported the interests of grazing and mining industries over environmental concerns and the rights of Native Americans.
- Thinks property rights are as important as the rights to free speech and equal protection.
- More than one third of the panel of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary rejected Myers as "unqualified" for the bench. Myers does not have significant litigation experience and has not created any important legal scholarship.
Judge Priscilla Owen
- Justice on the Texas State Supreme Court
- Member of the board of the Houston chapter of the Federalist
Society
- Voted to narrow and and eliminate buffer zones around a group
of Texas abortion clinics. Operation Rescue-National v. Planned
Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas, 975 S.W.2d 546
(Tex. 1998).
- Consistently ruled against minors seeking judicial bypass to
Texas' parental notification laws. In re Jane Doe, 19 S.W.3d.
346 (Tex. 2000); In re Jane Doe , 19 S.W.3d 249 (Tex. 2000);
In re Jane Doe 2, 19 S.W. 3d 278 (Tex. 2000); In re Jane
Doe 3, 19 S.W. 3d 300 (Tex. 2000); In re Jane Doe 4,
19 S.W. 3d. 322 (Tex. 2000); In re Jane Doe 4 (second appeal),
19 S.W.3d 337 (Tex. 2000).
Judge Charles Pickering
- Federal District Court Judge in Mississippi
- As a State Senator, voted in favor of a convention to propose
a consitutional amendment to ban aboriton.
- Chaired the subcommittee of the National Republical Party that
approved a plank calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution
to make abortion illegal.
- Opposed the Equal Rights Amendment
- Would serve on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals which is already
one of the most conservative courts in the nation.
- The Los Angeles Times officially opposes Pickering's
nomination.
Bill Pryor
- Attorney General of Alabama
- Called Roe v. Wade "the worst abomination of constitutional
law in our history." Washington Post, April 11, 2003
- Supported Alabama Supreme Court Justice who installed an enormous
statute of the Ten Commandments in the State Court House. Washington
Post, April 11, 2003
- Has repeatedly argued in favor of a state's right to be exempt
from federal laws banning discrimination. Alexander v. Sandoval,
532 U.S. 275 (2001); University of Alabama v. Garrett,
531 U.S. 356 (2001); Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents,
528 U.S. 62 (2000)
Justice Diane Sykes
- Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice
- Praised anti-abortion extremists on trial before her for blockading a clinic even though they had a history of numerous similar arrests. Then she issued lenient sentences, which was unusual given her reputation for issuing heavy sentences.
- Misled Senate Judiciary Committee about her knowledge of the defendants' criminal history. She told the Committee that she was unaware of their records at the time of sentencing, but court transcripts show that as she was sentencing the men she said that they "obviously have a history of this kind of behavior" and noted that they were unlikely to stop. One of the defendants had appeared before her six previous times.
- Refused to answer written questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee about whether Roe v. Wade and Griswold v. Connecticut had been decided correctly.
- Voted against a new trial for a case in which a juror could not understand English.
- Consistently rules against workers and injured plaintiffs in favor of big business.
- Member of Federalist Society, a conservative legal community.
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