Impasse on Choosing of U.S. Judges Broken

A political standoff between Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) and the White House over the way federal judges are chosen has ended, officials said Wednesday, clearing the way for the potential nomination of Orange County Superior Court Judge Gary L. Taylor to a lifetime post on the U.S. District Court.

Justice Department spokesman Dan Eramian and Ira Goldman, legal counsel to Wilson, confirmed the end of a feud that had stalled progress on filling five vacant federal judgeships in California, including one in Santa Ana, for which Taylor has been recommended.

As a result, Wilson’s five candidates will be evaluated by the Justice Department, screened by the FBI and submitted to President George Bush for nomination. Once nominated, candidates must be confirmed by the Senate.

The power struggle has festered since last summer, when Bush insisted that senators submit at least three names for each judgeship, a rule that had been in place since Richard Nixon’s presidency but usually not enforced. Republican senators--who choose judicial candidates when a president of their party occupies the White House--refused to cooperate, claiming the prerogative of submitting one name to the White House.

Eramian and Goldman refused to reveal how the truce was reached, and both claimed that their respective positions remain intact. The agreement applies to Wilson only. Other disgruntled senators have reportedly resolved the dispute in other ways.

“We reached common ground,” Goldman said. “Nobody capitulated. There was a meeting of the minds. There was no political battle here.”

Goldman refused to say whether Wilson submitted additional names as desired by the White House. But he said that the “system we put in place reassures them that (the five recommended candidates) are the best” for the jobs.

An administration official directly involved with the selection of judges indicated that part of the agreement involved reassuring the White House that Wilson’s judicial candidates were being well chosen.

“Our concern always is and has been that some senators view this as a patronage business and recommendations are made without any relation to their qualifications,” the official said. “We’re now convinced this is not so in Sen. Wilson’s case.”

When asked why Wilson was not required to submit three or more names for each vacancy, the source said, “We were convinced his process (of screening judicial and U.S. attorney candidates) produced such high quality candidates.”

The official added that if the Administration “runs into problems” with one or more of Wilson’s five choices, “we are free to reject him or her and go back to Sen. Wilson for other names.”

Goldman said the nominations would not be made at least until mid-June.

In addition to Taylor, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James Ware has been recommended for a judgeship in San Jose and David F. Levi, the U.S. attorney in Sacramento, for a vacancy there. Two others, whose names have not been confirmed, have been tapped for openings in Sacramento and Fresno.

While Taylor’s recommendation was stalled by the dispute, Gov. George Deukmejian invited him to become a contender for a vacancy on the state appeals court in Santa Ana. Taylor and three other Orange County Superior Court judges--David G. Sills, William F. Rylaarsdam and Cecil Hicks, the former Orange County district attorney--are now finalists for that post.

Times staff writer Ronald J. Ostrow in Washington contributed to this report.