Minorities Denounce Senate Delays on Judges

Latino civil rights activists and Democratic lawmakers accused the Republican-controlled Senate on Tuesday of unfairly scrutinizing minority and women nominees for federal judgeships, including subjecting a Latino judge from Los Angeles to a record 44-month wait for a decision on his appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

The criticism came on the same day that the Senate, on a party-line vote, rejected President Clinton’s nomination of a black Missouri state Supreme Court judge to the federal bench.

The White House issued a statement decrying the vote as a “disgraceful act of partisan politics” and saying that it provides “strong evidence for those who believe that the Senate treats minority and women judicial nominees unequally.”

Senate Republican leaders defended their rejection of Judge Ronnie White as being based on opposition from law enforcement groups who regard the judge as opposing the death penalty. But Democrats contended that Republican distorted White’s record.

“I am sure that the U.S. Senate would never use any basis for a vote, anything other than the qualification and the record of a nominee,” said Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.). Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, added: “It is not a nominee’s race or gender that slows the process down but rather the controversial nature of a nominee based on his or her record.”

Of 19 nominees confirmed this year, four are women, four are Latino and one is African American, Lott said.

But critics offered their own statistics: Of the 10 candidates whose nominations have been delayed the longest, seven are women or minorities, according to the liberal group People for the American Way.

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Raymond Fisher, a Justice Department official and former Los Angeles police commissioner, to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Ted Stewart, chief of staff for Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, to a federal judgeship.

But White’s rejection inflamed the debate over the delay of confirmation votes on U.S. District Judge Richard Paez of Los Angeles and San Francisco lawyer Marsha Berzon, both of whom have been nominated to the U.S. 9th District Court of Appeals.

“If you are a woman, if you are a minority, you take longer to get through the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate for confirmation for a judgeship--if you ever get through at all,” Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said at a Capitol Hill news conference.

Paez was nominated in January 1996, Berzon in January 1998. In contrast, Stewart was nominated in late July and confirmed Tuesday.

The Paez and Berzon nominations have been held up by conservative senators who regard the 9th Circuit, which covers California and eight other Western states, as being too liberal.

Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) pledged to use whatever device can be found to bring the nominations to a vote.

Democratic California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein said that seven vacancies on the 28-seat 9th Circuit have contributed to a judicial emergency, leading to a backlog of cases.

“If a senator has a problem with particular nominees, he or she should vote against them,” Feinstein said. “But a nominee should not be held up interminably by a handful of anonymous senators.”

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles), who heads the congressional Hispanic Caucus, called the delay a “slap in the face to Latinos and women.”

She and other Latino leaders warned that the inaction would hurt Republicans in their efforts to court Latino voters in next year’s elections.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) complained about an ugly trend in the Senate.

As he headed back into the Senate chambers Tuesday, Lott said that he opposes Paez’s appointment because Paez “has a very bad record.” However, Lott said, he plans to speak with senators who have objected to the nomination--he would not identify whom--to assess whether a confirmation vote can take place soon.

But criticism was not limited to Republicans.

Antonia Hernandez, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, assailed the Clinton administration for failing to appoint more Latinos to the federal bench.

Latinos hold 40 of 843 seats on the federal bench--or 4.5% of the total, even though they make up 11% of the nation’s population and are projected to become the nation’s largest minority, Hernandez said.

Latinos represent about 6% of Clinton’s judicial appointments--no better than the percentage of Latinos appointed by former President Jimmy Carter at a time when the Latino community, and in particular, the number of Latino lawyers was much smaller, she said.

But White House spokesman Barry Toiv said that Clinton has nominated 26 Latinos to the federal bench and 19 have been confirmed--more than any other administration.

“In general, this president is proud that his nominees have been the most diverse and best qualified group of nominees of any president,” Toiv said. “But today’s action by the Senate should make clear the hostile environment minority judicial appointees now face with this Republican majority.”