Court Nominee

The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering the appointment of John T. Noonan to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Noonan is a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, who has authored a number of works on abortion, articulating such themes as the morality of abortion, natural law reasoning against the use of contraception, and deciding when life begins. He is a former director of Americans United for Life, and the behind-the-scenes architect of legislation to strip the lower courts of their right to hear cases on abortion.

I, for one, loudly protest this proposed appointment.

A Times editorial (Oct. 6), “Reagan’s Legacy,” was right on key when it stated, “The Reagan Administration is now trying to pack the federal judiciary with judges who will decide certain cases in certain ways,” and, “The Administration has targeted the Courts of Appeals, which are, in effect the Supreme Court in the vast majority of cases.” The editorial even named the 9th Circuit in San Francisco as one of the targeted courts.

I thank the editorial staff for its foresight.

The public must wake up to the reality of what is happening.

DARBY MANGEN

Sacramento

Mangen is public relations coordinator of the California National Organization for Women.