The partisan bickering over federal judges that had played out in the Senate over the past few weeks came to a compromise resolution on Monday evening, May 23, when seven moderate senators from each side of the aisle announced a compromise that averted a showdown over a filibuster on the judges.
Under terms of the agreement, Democrats have agreed to an up or down vote on three conservative judges—Priscilla R. Owen, Janice Rogers, and William Pryor—while making no commitment on two others. In return, the Republican leadership has agreed to step back from forcing through a rules change that would have eliminated the filibuster for judicial nominations.
On May 24, the Senate voted 81 to 18 to end debate on the first two nominees and a vote on their confirmation is expected quickly. Both parties seemed eager to embrace the compromise as the ongoing squabbling had resonated poorly with much of the American public, and they feared the repercussions of its escalation.
"Protecting the filibuster comes at a high price for the LGBT community. As part of this compromise, the full Senate in the days ahead will vote on whether to confirm perhaps the most antigay federal judicial nominee in memory. That's William H. Pryor,' said Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal.
All of the national gay political organizations are united in their opposition to Pryor's confirmation and are working hard to defeat him.
"This compromise preserves the ability to block extremist nominees. This will be particularly important when a nominee for the Supreme Court is named,' said Joe Solmonese, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign.
"We are gravely disappointed that Judge William Pryor, who has a record of attacking equal rights for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, is one of the nominees who will proceed. We will continue to focus on Pryor's extreme views and urge Senators of both parties to oppose his nomination.'
'We feel a deep foreboding that, with this compromise, the Senate may turn out to have lost sight of critically important trees with the hope of possibly saving the forest,' said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
'The time-honored and wholly constitutional Senate tradition of the filibuster — the last line of defense for minority interests — has now been conditioned to be used only in 'extraordinary circumstances,' which are to be decided, effectively, by 14 senators, possibly putting out of reach the ability to stop nominees who would change the Constitution as we know it.'
"The deal, however, did open the door to votes on two of the most extreme opponents of separation of church and state. California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown and former Alabama Attorney General William H. Pryor have on numerous occasions taken positions far outside the judicial mainstream on First Amendment rights, privacy rights and civil liberties,' said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
"We pledge to remain vigilant. If these nominees or others who hold similar views end up filling enough federal court vacancies, the United States could be saddled with a federal judiciary full of zealots issuing rulings based not on constitutional precepts but on the dictates of theocrats like James Dobson, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson."
But the head of Focus on the Family wasn't buying it. James Dobson had made promotion of the conservative judicial nominees a rallying point for his organizations. He said the compromise "represents a complete bailout and a betrayal by a cabal of Republicans and a great victory for united Democrats."
Only time, and the votes on the nominees, will tell.
