Wampum

This just came in over the transom. I'll go with the material Dwight and I have managed to put together on some of the nominees, and the rather serious possibility that the election thieves of '00 and '04 will bury a vote on the only policy they've got (other than hysterical morality and wars with weapons that do exist over weapons that don't exist) and fiinish their domestic revolution by abolishing the defense against mob rule -- the 60% rule -- in the Senate.

Fair Court Coalition Asks Senators Snowe and Collins not to go Nuclear on Supreme Court

(Portland) Members of the Fair and Federal Court Coalition announced today they will hold a press conference on March 16 urging Senators Snowe and Collins to oppose a Senate the nuclear option. If passed, the nuclear option would end the 200 plus year tradition of unlimited debate in the Senate and allow Republican leaders to steamroll extreme judges into the US Supreme Court and US Court of Appeals. The press conference will take place on the corners of Pearl and Federal Streets in front of the Federal Court House at 11 am.

"The Senate has a vital advise-and-consent role when it comes to judicial selection. Without the option to filibuster, the Senate's duty to check and balance the appointment powers of the President would be seriously compromised. The Senate must ensure that judicial nominees are subject to the highest standard of scrutiny", said typo in the original

"The impact of Senators' rulings extends far beyond the term of the president who nominated them and often the senators who voted to confirm them. At this time, the decisions that senators make about judicial nominations are more important than ever because rights and liberties that many thought were secure have been jeopardized by federal court decisions".

In his first term, President Bush nominated over 200 judicial nominees and it is likely that he will be able to nominate one or more judges to the Supreme Court within the next four years, and more importantly numerous justices to the Circuit Courts. The Supreme Court reviews less then 100 cases a year so often the Appeals Courts make the final rulings on the law and the Constitution.

The Fair and Independent Federal Courts Coalition is a group of over 30 diverse organizations who have pledged to monitor judicial nominations to the federal bench and alert Maine people to those nominees - including potential Supreme Court nominees- whose views are far outside the mainstream of the rights and liberties that Maine people hold dear.

Update: We're not in the in crowd. Guess I'll take the kids to the library.