Won’t Be Activist on Bench, Manion Says

Daniel A. Manion, the conservative lawyer who was narrowly approved as a federal judge by the Senate amid bitter opposition, said Thursday that he will not be a conservative activist on the bench.

“One of the advantages of appointing a conservative versus a liberal is that a conservative such as myself does not believe in judicial activism,” Manion said.

“I believe that, once the case law is established, once it is at a point that it has been developed and ruled upon, that I don’t have the option of arbitrarily changing it,” he said. “I have to follow the precedent.”

With Vice President George Bush casting a tie-breaking--but unneeded--vote, the Senate approved Manion 50 to 49 Wednesday, ending a month of controversy and parliamentary maneuvering.

Opponents of Manion’s nomination to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago cited his lack of experience with federal law and his record as a state senator. Backers of the South Bend lawyer said the criticism was politically motivated.

Never Considered Withdrawing

Manion said the debate over his nomination never made him consider withdrawing.

“The most difficult part of this decision was when I first made it,” he said, “when the Justice Department first asked me to consider putting my name in.”

Manion brushed aside his critics’ comments, including a remark by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) that Manion was the worst judicial nominee he had ever seen.

“One thing I learned about Washington, it has a dispensation for people who live in glass houses,” he said. “They are allowed to throw stones.”

Manion said that 90% of the questions asked during his confirmation hearings “dealt with political and philosophical issues.”

“I knew once it became a political question it would be difficult,” he said.

Manion repeated his assertion that he has had only minimal involvement with the John Birch Society, an ultra-conservative organization that his father, Clarence Manion, helped found.