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A Daily Chronicle of Bush Administration Distortion October 11, 2004
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Bush Misleads on Judicial Nominees



Speaking in the Rose Garden in May 2003, President Bush said that he understands "justice depend[s] on fair and impartial judges."1 But a new study shows that the judges President Bush has nominated to the federal bench are biased against plaintiffs who sue the government for violations of environmental law.

According to analysis by the nonpartisan Environmental Law Institute, Bush appointees ruled in favor of environmental challenges just 17 percent of the time.2 In contrast, judges appointed by former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush ruled for environmental plaintiffs 28 percent of the time.3 And judges appointed by recent Democratic presidents ruled for environmental plaintiffs 60 percent of the time.4

These statistics do not reflect the fact that the Senate blocked the most extreme anti-environmental Bush nominees. For example, Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen - whose nomination didn't clear the Senate - voted to uphold a section of the Texas Water Code that allowed private landowners to exempt themselves from municipal clean water regulations.5 The majority of the court found the section violated the Texas constitution and described Owen's opinion as consisting mostly of "inflammatory rhetoric."6

Sources:
  1. "President Calls for Judicial Reform ," The White House, 05/09/03.
  2. "Environmental Group Cites Partisanship in the Judiciary," Washington Post, 10/09/04.
  3. Ibid.
  4. Ibid.
  5. "The Dissents Of Priscilla Owen: A Judicial Nominee Who Would Make The Law, Not Interpret It ," People for the American Way.
  6. Ibid.



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