Thread: MALDEF Disappointed By President Bush’s Failure To No

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MALDEF Disappointed By President Bush’s Failure To Nominate A Latino To The U.S. Supreme Court


October 3, 2005
(LOS ANGELES) MALDEF (the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) today expressed disappointment that President Bush failed to nominate a well-qualified Latino to be Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

“While we are pleased that President Bush’s nominee, if confirmed, would maintain the court’s gender diversity, he has again ignored highly qualified Latino judges, attorneys and law professors who could have served the nation ably on the United States Supreme Court,� stated MALDEF President and General Counsel Ann Marie Tallman. “We will evaluate the qualifications of Harriet Miers, as we have with all Supreme Court nominees, for respect for precedent and the constitutional authority for Congress to pass civil rights and other protective legislation, a demonstrated commitment to preserving and expanding the progress we have made on civil rights and individual liberties, and judicial temperament – and we will report our views to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.�

Added John Trasviña, MALDEF’s Senior Vice President for Law and Policy, “Many Latinos and Latinas have more judicial experience, more federal court experience, and more appellate expertise than this nominee and, for that matter, than Justices Roberts, Stevens, Scalia, Thomas, Souter, and O’Connor had when they were nominated to the Court. Our concern with the President’s selection, however, should not deflect to Ms. Miers, whose qualifications and experience we will examine with an open mind.�

Founded in 1968, MALDEF, the nation’s premier Latino civil rights organization, promotes and protects the rights of Latinos through advocacy, community education and outreach, leadership development, higher education scholarships and when necessary, through the legal system.

now Bush is not going to like that he has upset these, he'll probable make her change her name to a Latino name.

http://www.chicagotribune.com

Court picks rile Hispanics
President raised expectations in both campaigns

By Mark Silva
Washington Bureau
Published October 7, 2005


WASHINGTON -- President Bush's decision to pass for a second time on the opportunity to nominate the first Hispanic to the Supreme Court is prompting biting criticism from Hispanic leaders, who call his decision a "missed opportunity" to make history for the nation's fastest-growing minority group.

The president energetically courted the Hispanic vote in his two presidential campaigns. A former Texas governor, Bush often spoke of his close ties to Mexico and frequently dropped Spanish phrases into his speeches, and he made significant gains among Hispanic voters in 2004.

At the same time, the Republican Party has targeted more culturally conservative Hispanic voters, trying to offset the traditional Democratic advantage among Latinos. Against that backdrop, many Hispanic leaders avidly hoped Bush would come through with a Supreme Court nomination. Instead, the president nominated White House Counsel Harriet Miers on Monday.

"I think there was a missed opportunity to get a qualified Hispanic on the Supreme Court," Michael Barrera, president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview Thursday. "This was an issue important to a lot of Hispanics," Barrera added. "This is something they cared about, getting a Hispanic on the Supreme Court, and obviously Alberto Gonzales is well known in our community and they would have liked to see him appointed."

Gonzales, the attorney general, has been mentioned most frequently of several potential Hispanic nominees for the high court. Others include federal Judges Emilio Garza and Consuelo Callahan, prominent appellate lawyer Miguel Estrada and Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.). It's not clear, however, that any of these individuals other than Gonzales were ever real possibilities.

Should the president face a third chance to put someone on a court where blacks and women have won seats, Barrera said, he must pick a Hispanic. "We're expecting it," he said. "We are at a point now where we expect to be there."

Martinez, a Cuban-born attorney who served Bush as housing secretary before his election to the Senate last year, suggested Thursday that ethnicity should not be a "litmus test" for the high court, but he also said it's clear what the president must do if he gets a third pick.

"The next one, I think has to be a Hispanic, whether it's this president or the next president," Martinez said. "At this point, it's tough not to acknowledge the largest minority group in America. I think it's time now."

For Bush, nominating a candidate such as Gonzales--a onetime justice on the Texas Supreme Court, Bush's White House counsel and now the first Hispanic to serve as the nation's top law-enforcement officer--could help the GOP appeal to a key voting bloc.

One in eight Americans is of Hispanic heritage, and the Hispanic community numbers more than 37 million, including more than 15 million immigrants.

Nominations reflect diversity

There is a tradition of presidents considering diversity in Supreme Court nominations. For a long time there was thought to be a "Jewish seat" on the court, filled by such justices as Louis Brandeis and Felix Frankfurter. President Lyndon Johnson made history in 1967 by appointing Thurgood Marshall as the first African-American on the court; when Marshall stepped down, Bush's father replaced him with Clarence Thomas, an African-American.

President Ronald Reagan in 1981 named Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman on the court; she was later joined by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And when O'Connor announced her retirement, Bush faced considerable pressure to name another woman. At first, Bush nominated Judge John Roberts Jr. to O'Connor's seat. But when Chief Justice William Rehnquist died, the president shifted Roberts to that vacancy and named a woman, Miers, to O'Connor's seat.

The expectations of the Hispanic community have been raised in part by a Republican president's direct and often successful appeals for support from voters who largely have voted Democratic.

Success with voters

By a 2-1 ratio, Hispanic Americans who identify with a political party choose Democratic over Republican, according to surveys by the Pew Research Center. But between the 2000 election and 2004, Bush increased his share of the Hispanic vote, according to exit polls. Bush carried 35 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2000 and raised that to 40 percent last year.

The president, who also claimed significant shares of the Hispanic vote during his campaigns for governor in Texas, likes to campaign with Spanish words sprinkled into remarks for Latino voters.

"I want to look you all in the ojos," Bush told several diners at a Mexican restaurant in Davenport, Iowa, near the 1999 start of his first campaign for president, inviting eye contact from the crowd.

Bush also campaigned for re-election with a televised Spanish-language advertisement whose message resonated among Hispanic voters, Republican and Democratic strategists agree. In the ad, he promised people a share of the American dream with more home ownership, education and better lives for their families.

The Bush campaign succeeded in defining its candidate for Hispanic voters in ways that the Kerry campaign failed to do, suggested Maria Cardona, a Democratic consultant. Cardona was part of a television campaign that ran pro-Kerry Spanish ads in swing states, including Florida, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona.

"Everybody understood the importance of reaching out and talking to the Hispanic community," Cardona said. "Everybody knew that the Republicans were doing it. In the states where we didn't pay attention, Bush grew his percentage."

Joe Garcia, a Democrat and former executive director of the Republican-leaning Cuban-American National Foundation, said Bush's success with Hispanics stems from a personal comfort that Bush has with the culture, thanks to his Texas upbringing.

`The 1st macho president'

"When you are with George Bush, he's perfectly comfortable. This is not another world for him," Garcia said of encounters with the president. "In the same way that people used to say that Bill Clinton was the first black president, this is the first macho president. The way he throws back his shoulders and walks up to people, this is perfect."

Yet, there is something that Bush doesn't get, Garcia says: the importance of recognizing support from a community that counts on him to follow through.

"There is no question that he gets the Hispanic community and has reached out," Garcia said. "But the sad thing is that he has the opportunity to do something truly remarkable and has missed it."

Cecilia Munoz, vice president for policy at the National Council of La Raza, which bills itself as the largest U.S. Hispanic organization, said the appointment of a Hispanic justice is more than a decade overdue. "We are sorely disappointed that it didn't occur with the two positions that came open," she said. "The community is very focused on this next, important milestone."

So when has it became important for the acceptance of MALDEF on the United States Supreme Court nominations? So that they can have a lackey of their own? This is some dribble and I applaud that they are not "happy".