After Charge of Racism, Senate OKs Judicial Nominee

Two days after House members raised charges of racism because of the Senate’s foot-dragging on judicial nominees, senators approved Friday the first black female judge for the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

U.S. District Judge Johnnie B. Rawlinson, 48, of Las Vegas, was elevated to the appellate court on a voice vote. The circuit covers California, Arizona, Nevada, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Rawlinson had been named by President Clinton to the district court two years ago as the first black woman to hold that position in her state.

The nomination of another black judge, James A. Wynn Jr., for the all-white U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., continues to be held up in the Senate.

Rawlinson’s confirmation followed charges on Wednesday by the Congressional Black Caucus that the Republican-controlled Senate has demonstrated racist and sexist tendencies in holding up Clinton’s minority and female judicial appointments. Rawlinson’s nomination to the appellate court had been pending since February.

The caucus said the Senate had confirmed 42% of Clinton’s white nominees by last November but fewer than 18% of his black nominees. In addition, during last year’s congressional session, senators considering black nominees took two months longer than they did considering white nominees and 65 days longer considering women than they did men, the caucus reported.

“I’m saddened to make these accusations,” said Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), a caucus member. “But the United States Senate has acted racistly and with sexism.”

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called the charges unfair and said more minority and female judges have been approved by the Senate under his chairmanship than ever before. Senate Republicans have claimed that their opposition to some of Clinton’s nominees has been based on philosophy, not on race or gender.

Critics said last year that the Senate’s increasingly partisan atmosphere had led to a lengthy backlog in filling federal judgeships and other executive branch posts. For example, when U.S. District Judge Richard A. Paez of Los Angeles finally won confirmation to an appellate court seat earlier this year, the vote came 1,506 days after he had been nominated in 1996.

The confirmation of Wynn, a well-regarded moderate, to the 4th Circuit continues to be held up by one senator, Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), who is angry that Senate Democrats stalled a nominee he favored in 1992. Helms has blocked a hearing on Wynn’s qualifications even though there are four vacancies and no North Carolina residents on the 15-member court.

Clinton noted that the 4th Circuit has the largest African American population of any circuit in the nation but has never had a black appellate judge. Under Judiciary Committee rules, a single senator can veto privately a judicial nominee from his home state, a provision that has given Helms power over Wynn’s nomination, despite outspoken approval from North Carolina’s other senator, Democrat John Edwards.

Rawlinson has been a federal district judge since 1998. Previously, she worked in Nevada’s Clark County district attorney’s office for 18 years, most recently as an assistant district attorney. She received her bachelor’s degree from North Carolina A&T; State University and her law degree from the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law.