Three of President Bush's appeals court nominees -- long stonewalled by Democratic filibusters -- today asked to have their nominations withdrawn, according to The Associated Press.
The trio -- William Haynes, William Myers and Terrence Boyle -- have abandoned their quest for confirmation now that Democrats are the majority party in the Senate.
Another nominee, Mike Wallace, last month asked Bush to withdraw his nomination. Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said the withdrawals were sad.
"Although it's a shame that the nominations of these fine men languished for years without good reason," he said, "their withdrawal will serve the nation by finally allowing the President to fill vacancies on the affected federal circuits with desperately needed judges."
Haynes, a nominee for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, drew fire for being the architect of the Bush administration's policy toward treatment of detainees in the war on terror. He was first nominated in 2003.
Boyle, a federal judge in North Carolina also nomiated to the 4th Circuit, provoked opposition from Democrats who cited his rulings in civil rights and disability cases. He was originally nominated in 2001.
Myers was nominated to the nation's most liberal circuit -- the 9th Circuit -- in 2003.
Hausknecht called on the incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and the committee's other liberal members, to treat the president's new nominees with fairness and prompt action rather than a new round of obstruction and name-calling.
"The committee became a black hole in 2001 and 2002 for court of appeals nominees under Leahy's last tenure as chairman, so at this point I remain deeply skeptical concerning the fate of the president's future appeals court nominees," Hausknecht said. "I invite the chairman to prove me wrong."
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Please take a moment to write your U.S. senators and urge them to demand fair treatment for President Bush's judicial nominees. For contact information, including an easy-to-use e-mail form, visit the CitizenLink Action Center.
(Paid for by Focus on the Family Action)
