Thread: GOP ends truce on judicial hopefuls

GOP ends truce on judicial hopefuls

By Stephen Dinan
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The Washington Times
Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Senate Republicans on Tuesday filibustered one of President Obama’s appellate court nominees, ending a six-year truce and reigniting one of the bitterest recurring battles on Capitol Hill.

The 54-45 vote, almost entirely along partisan lines, blocked former New York Solicitor-General Caitlin Joan Halligan from getting a seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and put the final nail in the coffin of the 2005 agreement by the so-called “Gang of 14â€

It doesn't matter each party stacks the deck in their favor when they are in power. They stack it with the judges that will vote their way on issues and ideology....It stinks to high heaven, and the People always get screwed by it. They appoint Judges who like to make their own laws and interpretations in stead of following the constitution. Perfect example of why our Country is in the mess it is. I think honesty is a virtue and these people have very little of it because none of them adhere to the Oath they take.

Americans' Right To Arms is a Project of Patriot PAC



Gun Rights Imperiled in Senate Nomination Vote

URGENT: Senate Democrats are poised to put Caitlin Joan Halligan – the worst Obama judicial nominee since Elena Kagan, and a committed adversary of gun rights, an abject apologist for enemy combatants, and an uber-Leftwing judicial activist – on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

TELL THE SENATE – VOTE NO ON CLOTURE FOR HALLIGAN – NO MORE EXTREMIST JUDGES AGAINST GUN RIGHTS

Sneaky, slippery Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced with no warning he will invoke cloture on Halligan's nomination early Tuesday, December 6.

With 60 "aye" votes for cloture, Halligan will win a lifetime seat on the only court other than the U.S. Supreme Court that can actually HALT some of the Obama Administration's unconstitutional practices.

It is the D.C. Circuit Court which hears cases of federal regulatory abuse, brought to challenge extremist Administration policies Obama has enacted by fiat when he can't get Congress to pass his socialist agenda.

JUST SAY NO – VOTE NO ON CLOTURE FOR HALLIGAN
NO MORE LEFTWING ACTIVIST JUDGES

Moreover, the D.C. Circuit Court has heard the two biggest Second Amendment cases of our lifetimes, McDonald v. Chicago and District of Columbia v. Heller, and plays a critical role in national security cases. This prestigious court is also considered the top training ground for future Supreme Court nominees.

Other than the Supreme Court, the D.C. Circuit Court is viewed as the most influential court in the nation. THIS Obama judicial nomination is gauged by court watchers as among the most important thus far.

IT IS URGENT WE MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD!

TELL THE SENATE – VOTE NO ON CLOTURE FOR HALLIGAN – NO MORE EXTREMIST JUDGES AGAINST GUN RIGHTS

If the cloture vote succeeds it means CERTAIN confirmation for Halligan, and her extreme views. NO Obama nominee has been ranked by judicial experts as more likely to do damage to the Constitution if confirmed than Caitlin Halligan.

While many Republican senators can be counted on to vote against cloture, there are those in the GOP ranks who are notoriously unreliable: Lamar Alexander (TN), Scott Brown (MA), Susan Collins (ME), Lindsey Graham (SC), Mark Kirk (IL), Richard Lugar (IN), John McCain (AZ), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Olympia Snowe (ME), and John Thune (SD).

The Democratic leadership will be cracking the whip hard on this cloture vote, but some "moderate" Democrats concerned about Halligan's Second Amendment and national security records might be convinced to vote against cloture – IF THEY HEAR FROM ENOUGH OF US.

Among these Democrats are: Sens. Mark Begich (AK), Bob Casey (PA), Joe Manchin (WV), Claire McCaskill (MO), Ben Nelson (NE), Jon Tester MT), and Jim Webb (VA).

JUST SAY NO – VOTE NO ON CLOTURE FOR HALLIGAN
NO MORE LEFTWING ACTIVIST JUDGES

The circumstances of Halligan's record are "extraordinary" enough to prompt the National Rifle Association to oppose this judicial nomination, something the NRA rarely does. As the NRA's letter explains:

"Our opposition is based on Ms. Halligan's attacks on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. Specifically, she worked to undermine the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), enacted in 2005 with strong bipartisan support. This legislation was critically important in ending a wave of lawsuits … which sought to blame firearms manufacturers and dealers for the criminal misuse of their products … Among the governments that sued the industry was the state of New York … while Ms. Halligan was New York's solicitor general, and she strongly supported the litigation [against numerous gun manufacturers] both inside and outside the courtroom."

Gun Owners of America oppose Halligan's nomination for similar reasons, adding in their letter that Halligan "attempted to conceal the extent of her anti-gun animus" in her written testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

TELL THE SENATE – VOTE NO ON CLOTURE FOR HALLIGAN – NO MORE EXTREMIST JUDGES AGAINST GUN RIGHTS

Halligan's views on national security issues, and some of her associations, are equally troubling. For example, she signed a 2004 manifesto deeply critical of the War on Terror and has advocated passionately for enemy combatants. Additional concerns about Halligan's willingness to refrain from judicial activism are prompted by her record of hostility to the death penalty, sympathy for racial preferences and the invention of a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. Even more disturbing are her arguments, made while serving as New York's Solicitor General, that pro-life protestors can be sued for extortion and illegal aliens can sue for back pay. The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected both arguments.

Historically, nominees to the important and prestigious D.C. Circuit are subject to heightened scrutiny. During the Bush Administration, Democrats opposed several eminently qualified nominees to the D.C. Circuit Court, including Miguel Estrada, whose nomination was defeated by multiple filibusters, and Peter Keisler, who vainly waited two years to receive a vote in Sen. Leahy's Judiciary Committee. The seat to which Halligan has been nominated is vacant only because Senate Democrats blocked numerous appointments during the last Administration.

JUST SAY NO – VOTE NO ON CLOTURE FOR HALLIGAN
NO MORE LEFTWING ACTIVIST JUDGES