Despite Race Concerns, Southwick Is Confirmed

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The New York Sun

WASHINGTON — The Senate yesterday confirmed Judge Leslie Southwick to the federal appeals court in New Orleans after Republicans overpowered objections by Democrats who said he wasn’t sensitive enough to the region’s history of race relations.

The 59–38 vote, a rare Republican victory in a Democratic-led Senate, was sealed after the nomination survived its main obstacle, a test tally moments earlier in which a dozen Democrats sided with Republicans to thwart a filibuster. That left Democrats without the power to block Judge Southwick’s confirmation, even after a heated debate that raised the pain of civil rights struggles in the 5th Circuit, which serves Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

Judge Southwick’s record as a state appeals court judge in Mississippi drew opposition from traditionally left-leaning groups who warned Democrats that his confirmation could mean consequences come Election Day.

“We regard this as a test,” a District of Columbia delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said.

“This vote for Leslie Southwick is a vote against the dignity and safety of our families,” Human Rights Campaign’s president, Joe Solmonese, said.

But supporters of Judge Southwick’s nomination said the choice was rightly decided on his qualifications — not the turbulent history of the 5th Circuit.

President Bush said the confirmation was a victory for the judicial system, and he called for confirmation of other federal court nominees.

“Judge Southwick is a man of character and intelligence who will apply the law fairly. I appreciate the Senate’s approval of his nomination,” Mr. Bush said.

Particularly sweet for Republicans was the pivotal role played by Senator Feinstein, a Democrat of California, who sided with Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and voted to give Judge Southwick an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. Another bonus for the party out of congressional power: Eight Democrats and one independent joined Ms. Feinstein in voting to confirm Judge Southwick.

Democrats who voted for confirmation: Senators Akaka of Hawaii, Byrd of West Virginia, Conrad and Dorgan of North Dakota, Ms. Feinstein, Johnson of South Dakota, Lincoln and Pryor of Arkansas, and Nelson of Nebraska. Senator Lieberman, an independent of Connecticut, also voted yes.

The nomination tested a fragile agreement in the Senate to block Mr. Bush’s judicial nominations only in “extraordinary” circumstances. Some Democratic opponents said Judge Southwick’s writings, combined with the troubled racial history of the circuit, met this amorphous standard.

At issue were two cases in which Southwick was involved as a state appeals court judge in Mississippi. One was a 1998 decision that upheld the reinstatement of a social worker who used a racial slur in reference to a co-worker. Three years later, Judge Southwick joined a ruling against a bisexual mother in a custody case. He also joined what some activists said was an anti-gay concurring opinion.

Judge Southwick’s supporters pointed out that those were among 7,000 opinions across the nominee’s career and that none of those facts addressed his qualifications. Conservative legal groups began pressuring Democrats from traditionally Republican states to at least give Judge Southwick an up-or-down vote.

Judge Southwick, a law professor and Iraq war veteran, was nominated by Mr. Bush in January.

Judge Southwick, an adjunct professor at the Mississippi College School of Law, served on the Mississippi Court of Appeals between 1995 and 2006. He previously served as a deputy assistant attorney general with the Justice Department.


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