Posted on: Monday, December 27, 2004
Seabright to be judicial re-nominee
By Deb Riechmann
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Refusing to be brushed off by Democratic opposition in the Senate, President Bush plans to nominate for a second time 20 people, including a federal prosecutor in Honolulu, who did not receive up or down votes on their nominations for federal judgeships.
J. Michael Seabright will be re-nominated to be a U.S. District Court judge in Hawai'i. Seabright is the assistant U.S. attorney in Honolulu overseeing the white-collar and organized crime unit.
Hawai'i Sens. Dan Inouye and Daniel Akaka lauded Seabright's previous nomination, saying he was "highly qualified" for the job. The Hawai'i State Bar Association rated Seabright as "highly qualified." The American Bar Association rated him "well qualified," which is its highest rating.
Seabright worked in private practice in Honolulu from 1984 to 1987, then became a federal prosecutor in Washington. He moved back to Hawai'i in 1990. Since then, he's prosecuted several high profile cases, including a bribery case against eight former Honolulu liquor inspectors.
The Democrats' ability to stall certain White House picks for the federal bench was a contentious issue during Bush's first term. During the past two years, Democrats used filibusters to prevent final votes from occurring on 10 of 34 of Bush's nominees to federal appeals courts.
"The president nominated highly qualified individuals to the federal courts during his first term, but the Senate failed to vote on many nominations," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in a statement. "Unfortunately, this only exacerbates the issue of judicial vacancies, compounds the backlog of cases and delays timely justice for the American people."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist called for quick action and issued a statement that pressured Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., to support the president's nominees. Specter recently won the backing of Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans to be their new chairman despite his statement that judges who oppose abortion would have a difficult time gaining Senate confirmation.
"The president has decided to re-nominate many highly qualified and capable individuals to serve as federal judges," Frist said. "I look forward to working with Sen. Specter, other Judiciary Committee members and my colleagues to ensure quick action and up and down votes on these judicial nominees."
Democrats reacted with irritation.
"I was extremely disappointed to learn today that the president intends to begin the new Congress by resubmitting extremist judicial nominees," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a statement. "Last Congress, Senate Democrats worked with the president to approve 204 judicial nominees, rejecting only 10 of the most extreme."
Bush intends to re-nominate the following 12 individuals for the U.S. Court of Appeals: Terrence W. Boyle, 4th Circuit; Priscilla Richman Owen, 5th Circuit; David W. McKeague, 6th Circuit; Susan Bieke Neilson, 6th Circuit; Henry W. Saad, 6th Circuit; Richard A. Griffin, 6th Circuit; William H. Pryor; 11th Circuit; William Gerry Myers III, 9th Circuit; Janice Rogers Brown, District of Columbia Circuit; Brett M. Kavanaugh, District of Columbia Circuit; William James Haynes II, 4th Circuit; and Thomas B. Griffith, District of Columbia Circuit.
Bush also intends to nominate again Seabright and seven others to less controversial U.S. District Court positions: James C. Dever III, Eastern District, North Carolina; Thomas L. Ludington, Eastern District, Michigan; Robert J. Conrad, Western District, North Carolina; Daniel P. Ryan, Eastern District, Michigan; Peter G. Sheridan, New Jersey; Paul A. Crotty, Southern District, New York; and Sean F. Cox, Eastern District, Michigan.
