disneydude
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Conservatives, rightwingers and neocons:
Are you still comfortable nominating Giuliani as your GOP Presidential choice....or will you stay true to your principles and go with someone like Gingrich?
Conservatives balk over Giuliani's judges
His picks as New York mayor raise doubts over whether he'd put 'strict constructionists' on the high court.By Tom Hamburger and Adam Schreck, Times Staff Writers
March 12, 2007
WASHINGTON — Rudolph W. Giuliani, in an effort to temper his support for abortion rights and his other socially liberal stances, has been assuring conservatives that as president he would appoint "strict constructionists" to the federal bench, in the tradition of Supreme Court jurists Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and John G. Roberts Jr.
But now, some prominent conservatives are saying that Giuliani's record as mayor undermines that promise. In his eight years leading New York City, they say, Giuliani appointed a number of judges who did not appear to fit the conservative mold......
"Rudy's judges were mostly liberal," said Connie Mackey, a former New Yorker who now serves as vice president of FRC Action, the legislative and political arm of the conservative Family Research Council. "Any pro-lifer who believes they are going to get the kind of judge out of Rudy Giuliani that we see in either Roberts or Alito is probably going to be disappointed."
One judge approved by Giuliani, Rosalyn Richter, had been executive director of a gay rights organization, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, before being named to the bench. After her initial appointment by former Mayor David N. Dinkins, Richter changed the questions asked of potential jurors to be more welcoming to gay and lesbian couples. She was later reappointed by Giuliani.
Another judge, appointed by Giuliani to the criminal bench in 1996, Dora Irizarry, has called herself pro-choice and was later elevated to the federal bench with strong support from Democratic Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
Phyllis Schlafly, leader of the conservative Eagle Forum, said the Giuliani surge in public opinion polls would be short-lived and that Giuliani's pledge to appoint conservative jurists would not win over the GOP base.
"The grass roots are more sophisticated than that," she said in a recent interview.
Among abortion rights advocates, Giuliani's record is viewed more charitably. "On balance, the great majority of Giuliani appointees were moderates," said Kelli Conlin, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice New York. "I didn't notice a pattern of conservatives, and I certainly didn't notice a pattern of appointing strict constructionists."
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Are you still comfortable nominating Giuliani as your GOP Presidential choice....or will you stay true to your principles and go with someone like Gingrich?
Conservatives balk over Giuliani's judges
His picks as New York mayor raise doubts over whether he'd put 'strict constructionists' on the high court.By Tom Hamburger and Adam Schreck, Times Staff Writers
March 12, 2007
WASHINGTON — Rudolph W. Giuliani, in an effort to temper his support for abortion rights and his other socially liberal stances, has been assuring conservatives that as president he would appoint "strict constructionists" to the federal bench, in the tradition of Supreme Court jurists Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and John G. Roberts Jr.
But now, some prominent conservatives are saying that Giuliani's record as mayor undermines that promise. In his eight years leading New York City, they say, Giuliani appointed a number of judges who did not appear to fit the conservative mold......
"Rudy's judges were mostly liberal," said Connie Mackey, a former New Yorker who now serves as vice president of FRC Action, the legislative and political arm of the conservative Family Research Council. "Any pro-lifer who believes they are going to get the kind of judge out of Rudy Giuliani that we see in either Roberts or Alito is probably going to be disappointed."
One judge approved by Giuliani, Rosalyn Richter, had been executive director of a gay rights organization, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, before being named to the bench. After her initial appointment by former Mayor David N. Dinkins, Richter changed the questions asked of potential jurors to be more welcoming to gay and lesbian couples. She was later reappointed by Giuliani.
Another judge, appointed by Giuliani to the criminal bench in 1996, Dora Irizarry, has called herself pro-choice and was later elevated to the federal bench with strong support from Democratic Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
Phyllis Schlafly, leader of the conservative Eagle Forum, said the Giuliani surge in public opinion polls would be short-lived and that Giuliani's pledge to appoint conservative jurists would not win over the GOP base.
"The grass roots are more sophisticated than that," she said in a recent interview.
Among abortion rights advocates, Giuliani's record is viewed more charitably. "On balance, the great majority of Giuliani appointees were moderates," said Kelli Conlin, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice New York. "I didn't notice a pattern of conservatives, and I certainly didn't notice a pattern of appointing strict constructionists."
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