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Legal scholar credits Sen. Specter for advance of Southwick nomination

A leading constitutional law expert in Washington, DC, says Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania) was instrumental in getting appellate court nominee Leslie Southwick reported out of the Judiciary Committee last week.

Liberal groups and Democrats on the committee have opposed Southwick's nomination, claiming he is biased against homosexuals, minorities, and women. But on Thursday, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) joined nine of her Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee in approving the nomination of Southwick to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The nomination advanced just one day after Senator Specter and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) introduced a "sense of the Senate" amendment calling for a full Senate vote on the Mississippi judge.

Ed Whelan is president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Whelan says Specter recognized there was nothing to the "scurrilous" charges that were being leveled against Southwick, and decided to press the matter knowing that all the ammunition was on the judge's side.

"This is a man who was recognized by the Mississippi State Bar for judicial excellence a couple years ago," he points out. "[And] from what I can tell, no one has a bad word to say about him ...."

Consequently, says Whelan, the nomination should have been relatively uncontroversial. "But what happened is the leftists, the groups on the left, wanted a scalp," he says; "and they almost got their puppets in the Senate to deliver the scalp for them."

Whelan, an expert on the judicial confirmation process, is applauding Feinstein's decision. "Democrats unanimously approved Judge Southwick's nomination last year to a district court seat," he points out. "Now I think once Senator Feinstein looked carefully at the attacks and spoke with Judge Southwick, she was confident that attacks were entirely baseless."

Whelan says some liberal groups may now call for a majority filibuster. But given Feinstein's powerful statement, he doubts the Democrats would pursue what he calls "that suicidal course." Whelan says he would be surprised if Judge Southwick is not confirmed by fall.