|
|
|
Bush Appoints Anti-Gay To Appeals Court Ignoring Congress by Paul Johnson, 365Gay.com January 16, 2004 Washington, D.C. -- President Bush sidestepped Congress late Friday directly appointing a Mississippi judge who once linked gays with social ills facing America to the federal appeals court. Bush elevated Charles Pickering to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by executive order even though the nomination was tied up in Congress by a Democratic filibuster. The appointment, bypassing confirmation, is valid until the next Congress takes office in January 2005. In a speech before the 1984 Mississippi Southern Baptist Convention, Pickering lumped homosexuality with social problems, according to The Clarion Ledger, a Jackson, Miss., newspaper. "We as Southern Baptists should lead the way in strengthening traditional moral values," he said, adding that society has been degraded by such things as pornography, homosexuality and divorce, was quoted as saying. There were also concerns about Pickering's handling of a 1994 hate crime incident involving three men who burned an 8-foot cross on the lawn of an interracial family while using racial epithets. The family had been a frequent target of harassment in their small rural town, including having bullets fired into their home and "KKK" painted nearby on the street. When sentencing one of the defendants, Pickering gave what was considered a "lenient" sentence for the cross-burning, in order to "make the punishment commensurate with the drunken prank that I think it was, even though it did have racial overtones." Pickering's nomination was one of six judges that Human Rights Campaign opposed out of approximately 200 nominated by the president. "Judge Pickering has advanced a body of jurisprudence that does not reflect America's highest values and the individuals within his jurisdiction deserve better," HRC President Cheryl Jacques said in a statement Friday evening. "A man whose career has been marked by racial divisiveness and anti-gay prejudice cannot be trusted to fairly interpret the laws of our country." The White House wasted no time after the president's executive order was issued. Pickering was sworn in in Jackson, Miss. shortly after the announcement.
|
Send mail to
email@gaypasg.org with questions or comments about this web site.
|