Democrats angered gay activists again this week as they compromised on several anti-gay judicial nominees to avoid a 'nuclear option' that Republicans had threatened to pass for many weeks. That option would have ended the filibuster, long used by the minority party to block extreme judicial nominations.
Republicans had used it to block many nominations by former President Clinton.
Monday's move was put forth by seven Democrats and seven Republicans as a compromise, but it also means the Democrats will allow Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor and Priscilla R. Owen to get Senate floor votes. No commitment was made on William Myers and Henry Saad, The New York Times reported.
'Sen. [ Bill ] Frist is trying to change the rules in the middle of the game,' said HRC President Joe Solmonese on the attempt to ban the filibuster. 'Roughly 200 nominees have gone through and fewer than 10 of the most extreme are being held up because of their dismal records on civil liberties. Changing the rules in the game right now is a blatant and dangerous power grab.'
HRC has been a part of the Coalition for a Fair and Independent Judiciary for the past three years. 'Consider what a difference one extreme judicial nominee's appointment can make,' said Solmonese. 'Had Judge Robert Bork been confirmed, he would have sat on the bench in Lawrence v. Texas rather than Justice Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion. Judge Bork is an outspoken opponent on GLBT rights. Lawrence, the Supreme Court case that struck down discriminatory sodomy laws, was a very close decision. One judge could very well have made the difference in deciding whether or not to brand the GLBT community as criminals.'
The seven Democrats agreed that they would filibuster future judicial nominees only under 'extraordinary' circumstances, according to the Times. The seven Republicans promised not to back a filibuster ban, which means the majority party didn't have enough support to pass the change—this time.
Senators John McCain, Robert C. Byrd, and Joseph I. Lieberman were among those who worked on the compromise that is sure to leave many Democrats wondering just what was won, if the threat of ending the filibuster in fact ended up forcing a compromise and then allowing the extremist judges in anyway. And, Republicans could come back with the same threat again and again—especially with Supreme Court replacements potentially coming in Bush's second term.
Lambda Legal said nominee Pryor is biased against gays, those with HIV, women, people of color and others. 'William Pryor is the most demonstrably antigay judicial nominee in recent memory,' said Lambda Executive Director Kevin Cathcart at the time.
