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IN THIS ISSUE

Letter from Eva Paterson

EJS Annual Conference 2005 at UCLA

Cokorinos; Corporate Think Tanks Then and Now

Law Review Summaries on Corporate Law

Coalition to Monitor Judicial Nominations

Debunking Sanders' Myth: A Rebuttal

Pathways to Leadership in New Mexico

First Annual EJS Fundraiser Features Port Chicago Jazz

EJS, ACS Host Law Prof. Reception

EJS/SALT Panel on Strategic Scholarship

Staff/Board News and Notes

Become a Part of the Equal Justice Society

Newsletter Editors:
Elaine Elinson
Joe Lucero

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California Coalition Will Monitor,
Act on Judicial Nominees

On December 10th, a historic meeting took place at the San Francisco offices of the Equal Justice Society: key state organizations representing civil rights, disability environmental, women's, and people of color organizations, called together by the Committee on Judicial Independence, came together to address the threats to an independent judiciary posed by the stated goals of President George Bush as he begins his second term as president.

The meeting - attended by more than 20 organizations -- explored ways to respond to the renomination of far-right judges to the federal courts, the imminent United States Supreme Court nominations, the aptly named "Nuclear Option," and the nomination of White House counsel Alberto Gonzales.

Adrienne Bousian, Deputy State Director for Senator Boxer, noting that Justice Rehnquist will retire soon, "providing President Bush the opportunity to appoint either Justice Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas as Chief Justice."

"This will also create a vacancy for another Bush appointee who will likely fit the mold of Scalia or Thomas," Bousian warned. She noted that the current Supreme Court has been closely divided on basic constitutional issues, resulting in 5-4 rulings that have chipped away at basic civil rights and liberties. "An extreme right wing judicial nominee will create an ultra-conservative Supreme Court, resulting in the weakening of important civil rights and environmental laws."

Bousian's warning was echoed by Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the country's oldest and largest civil rights coalition. Henderson, speaking in February at a Berkeley breakfast at the Greenlining Institute sponsored by the newly formed coalition, noted that the court "may become the instrument of ideologues dedicated to reversing a century of social progress."

Henderson, who also addressed San Francisco's Commonwealth Club in a session that was covered by the San Francisco Chronicle and will be broadcast in cities around the nation, focused on President Bush's vow to renominate the handful of far right judges who did not pass Senate muster last year. He praised the Equal Justice Society and other coalition members for their leadership in acting quickly to research the background of these nominees and taking action to preserve the federal courts as a haven for the protection of civil rights. The federal court nominees may move through the Senate as early as mid-February to March.

Nuclear Option

Henderson, also spoke about the attempt of right wing senators to eliminate the chance of a filibuster against the court nominations with a "nuclear option." If the time-honored tradition is eliminated, it would have a disastrous result for senators who seek to block the approval of extreme judicial nominees.

The filibuster allows for at least 41 senators, who strongly oppose a bill or nominee, to vote to continue debate and prevent a final vote on the issue. A final vote can be taken only if the majority receives 60 votes.

The "nuclear option," threatened by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, would allow for a narrow majority to circumvent Senate rules by ending debate and forcing a vote.

Opposition to Gonzalez

The Equal Justice Society and the coalition publicly opposed former President Bush's White House General Counsel Alberto Gonzalez to U.S. Attorney General. EJS President Eva Paterson noted that, as White House Counsel, Gonzales, in an extreme and unprecedented interpretation of international and civil rights law, argued that torture of enemy combatants could be permissible under the Geneva Conventions if the U.S. did not designate those being tortured as prisoners of war.

Paterson also noted that Gonzalez, as counsel for Bush when he was Governor of Texas, withheld credible evidence in death penalty cases that would have supported clemency, even in cases pointing to mental disability. Gonzales wrote the legal summaries for 54 of the 150 men and women put to death by Bush, setting a record for capital punishment in the United States.

Although Gonzales was opposed by many civil rights, human rights, religious and Latino organizations, and was not endorsed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, he was approved by the Senate by a vote of 60 to 36 on February 3. EJS will continue to monitor the new Attorney General and his work in the areas of civil and human rights.

EJS will continue to monitor President Bush's nominees and request that members alert their senators to take strong stands against extreme judicial nominees and regressive civil rights bills.

For more information on the "Nuclear Option" and President Bush's nomination of extremis judges, please visit the website of coalition partner People for the American Way: www.pfaw.org.