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.