A Democratic ‘Double Standard’ On Judges?
July 26, 2007, 8:25pm
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is accusing the chamber’s Democrats of holding to a double standard about judicial nominees by blocking votes on a series of nominees for the 5th U.S. District Court in Mississippi in recent years.
Democrats have blocked the selection of two nominees, Charles Pickering and Michael Wallace. Leslie Southwick is the latest in line for the job, and like the two before him, he has the support of both senators from Mississippi, Republicans Thad Cochran and Trent Lott.
In the past, McConnell said, that was the standard Democrats said warranted up-or-down votes on senators, even if they had many opponents. But he argued that Democrats have not held to that standard for the 5th District Court. “Why are the views of the Mississippi senators irrelevant?” he said.
“I’m still hopeful that Senate Judiciary Democrats are not going to let this process deteriorate to such a point that we have a total malfunction on judges,” McConnell added, saying that his goal is to “return to some kind of normal process.”
Categories: Mississippi, Producer's Picks, Thad Cochran, Trent Lott, Mitch McConnell, Law & Judiciary, Courts
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