More Talk About Giuliani’s Liberal Judges
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Abortion, Law, Religion, Supreme Court
I posted about Giuliani’s liberal judge problem here on March 1st, and now the LA Times picks up the meme.
From the west comes this about the easterner…
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.
A family court judge reappointed by Giuliani, Sheldon Rand, was excoriated on the conservative-leaning New York Post editorial page last week for ruling that city funds be used to pay for a sex-change operation for an indigent New York resident.
And a fourth judge, Paula J. Hepner, appointed initially by Dinkins in 1995, issued a ruling that allowed a lesbian to adopt her partner’s child. Four years later, Giuliani reappointed Hepner to New York’s family court bench. Hepner was subsequently married to another woman in a ceremony in Canada.
No doubt, this will be a big issue for Giuliani because conservatives think they’re one more appointment away from swinging Roe v. Wade. And with whispers of Ginsburg’s health starting to wane, they’ll be looking at 2008 as a make-or-break year.
But maybe Rudy is trying to swing Republicans back away from the culture of life crowd. There are certainly signs that point to that…
Giuliani says he personally opposes abortion but does not want to lead a fight to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized the procedure. That case is often cited as a case of judicial activism in which the judges invented new rights with no textual basis in the Constitution.“I’d like to see abortion reduced, I’d like to see it ended, but ultimately I believe that a woman has a right to choose,” Giuliani said last week in Spartanburg, S.C., where he came in two votes behind Sen. John McCain of Arizona in a straw poll of Republican voters.
The way Giuliani responds to this seemingly inherent disconnect will be part of how conservatives define him in ’08.
Look for Romney, McCain and others to pound him on this.
This entry was posted on Monday, March 12th, 2007 and is filed under 2008 Election, Abortion, Law, Religion, Supreme Court. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 12th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Well, Guiliani has already explained it once, but he should definitely do it again as it appears that the LATime is missing the information.
From my understanding, the process in NY works like this: A panel selects the judges from which the mayor can choose and then the mayor chooses one of 3 proposed judges.
Captain’s Quarters explains it better than I can: http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/009386.php
I don’t think you’ll see this explained by the liberal leaning media in the detail it deserves because I believe their motivation is to make Guiliani less appealing to conservatives because they’re afraid he’ll get the nomination, which IMHO would mean he’d most likely win the election.
Just a theory.
March 12th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Monica – Your theory is very astute.
March 12th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
DosPeros -
So far, Giuliani is my choice. I can’t find a candidate that I agree with more. Pro-choice, check. respectful to gay community, check. Strong position on national security, check.
I think Giuliani could be good for the country. He is far less polarizing than Bush on several levels and maybe that could help calm the political atmosphere some. That’s my hope, at least.
March 13th, 2007 at 6:41 am
gud one!.
March 13th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Monica – To be mayor of NY and espouse any sexual-morality stance would be impossible. I think Giuliani is sincere both when he reassures conversatives of the judges that he’ll nominate AND his pro-choice stance. One does not have to be pro-Roe to be pro-Choice. Giuliani will thread the needle and win.
March 13th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
DosPeros -
I totally agree with you. One doesn’t have to believe that the ruling in Roe vs Wade was constitutionally correct to be pro-choice.
March 19th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Well, frankly we need to have someone try to balance out the tremendous shift to the right Bush made in the judicial system, so someone who supports liberal judges is required as the next president. Especially since it’s possible that as many as 4 Supreme Court justices may be replaced during the next presidency.