Senate Delays Confirmation Hearings

By JESSE J. HOLLAND
.c The Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Republicans delayed confirmation hearings
Tuesday
for three of President Bush's first federal appeals court nominees after
Democrats complained the process was moving too quickly.

Meanwhile, Bush made his 13th U.S. appeals court nomination of the
month:
Lavenski Smith, a Republican and former Arkansas Supreme Court justice,
to
the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, had
scheduled
hearings Wednesday for three of Bush's first 11 candidates for federal
appellate courts. The hearing would have been exactly two weeks after
Bush
brought the judges to the White House to announce their nominations.

Democrats, who have been scrapping with Republicans over nominations all
year, complained the hearing was coming too soon, especially considering
that
Bush has removed the American Bar Association from the White House
vetting
process.

``We haven't had enough time to prepare,'' complained Sen. Charles
Schumer,
D-N.Y., a member of Hatch's committee.

The Judiciary Committee was to have held nomination hearings for Jeffrey
Sutton, former Ohio solicitor general who argued several states' rights
cases
against the federal government, to the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati;
Deborah
Cook, an Ohio Supreme Court justice, to the 6th Circuit; and John
Roberts, a
former clerk to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, to the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia.

This would have been in addition to hearings on the same day for two
Justice
Department nominees, Ralph Boyd, of Massachusetts, and Robert McCallum
Jr.,
of Georgia, both to be assistant attorneys general. Their nominations
will be
held Wednesday as scheduled.

Hatch pulled back the nominations Tuesday and probably will reschedule
the
hearings for later.

Some people complained that five people were too many to try to push
through
the committee at the same time. ``This has the making of a
railroading,''
said Elliot Mincburg, vice president of People For the American Way.

``Democrats on the committee were concerned about scheduling a hearing
on so
many so soon and expressed those concerns to the chairman, who listened
to
the concerns,'' said David Carle, spokesman for the committee's top
Democrat,
Patrick Leahy of Vermont. ``Senator Leahy thanks Senator Hatch for
working to
help resolve this.''

Of the three nominees, Sutton is the most contentious. Organizations
representing disabled Americans plan to campaign for the Senate to
reject his
nomination or Bush to withdraw it.

Sutton won a Supreme Court case this year that limited the impact of the
1990
Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed into law by Bush's
father.

The justices ruled that disabled Alabama workers who were victims of
discrimination did not have the right to sue the state under the ADA.
Sutton
argued the case for Alabama.

``It is the number one priority of the disability community to stop
this,''
said Jim Ward, director of public policy for the ADA Watch. ``Jeffrey
Sutton
represents a threat to our civil rights and we're united to stop this
nomination.''

Sutton's supporters say he has not been attacking the rights of the
disabled.

``He is a very impressive person,'' said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, who
met
Monday with Sutton and says he will support him.

``I think what the committee has to look at is what his beliefs are,''
DeWine
said. ``He has represented a number of different clients and merely
because a
person represents a client that might have an unpopular position doesn't
mean
that person necessarily, that lawyer necessarily, agrees with that
position.''

On the Net: Senate Judiciary Committee: http://judiciary.senate.gov/

National Council on Disability, ADA Watch:
http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/adawatch.html

People for the American Way: http://www.pfaw.org/

AP-NY-05-22-01 1924EDT

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.