Did Dems Delay Confirmation To Influence a Federal Court Case?
by Joseph A. D’Agostino Human Events May 21, 2004 The Republican appointees on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights want to investigate whether Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats corrupted the judicial confirmation process to please a special interest group and affect the outcome of one of the most significant federal civil rights cases in decades. The precise issue is whether Senate Democrats heeded the request of NAACP Legal Defense Fund President Elaine Jones to delay the confirmation of Bush nominee Julia Gibbons to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit until after that court had decided the University of Michigan Law School affirmative action case. Gibbons’ confirmation was delayed, and the appeals court ruled in favor of Michigan’s affirmative action program by one vote. After the court made its decision, Gibbons was confirmed. A memo written by Democratic Senate Judiciary aide Olati Johnson recorded Jones’ request for a delay and recommended that it be granted. Civil Ri
