Should the Republicans Filibuster Goodwin Liu?

Goodwin Liu


Goodwin Liu, a law professor at UC Berkeley, is President Obama's nominee to sit on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which already is the most liberal-and most overturned circuit court in the land. Liu is without question a liberal.

Very liberal.

In addition to all the hot button issues, there is a video of Liu on YouTube expressing his support of reparations and acknowleging that it will cost $$$$$
(taxes). He also is one of those who believes the Constitution is a "living, breathing document". In other words, he is a judicial activist. In addition, Liu is rumored to be considered for the next Supreme Court vacancy.

Presently, the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are complaining that Liu waited until yesterday to dump over 100 pages of documents on them relating to his writings. They have asked for a continuence but Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, pictured below,


has refused to delay the hearings. Of course, we remember how Leahy is when holding hearings on Republican-nominated judges, don't we?


"I had hoped that in this new year, we could put political rancor aside and come together to openly and fairly debate President Obama's qualified judicial nominees," Leahy wrote in a letter to Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the ranking Republican on Judiciary.

"I am disappointed that, instead, we have seen the same delays and obstructionist approach toward these nominees on the Senate floor extend to the Committee's consideration," Leahy wrote.

Enough about Leahy.

So what is Liu's judicial experience?

Well, he was a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

He studied at at Yale Law School. He was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford.

Courtroom experience?

Well, he was a litigator for some company in Washington.

Experience as a judge?

Nothing.

So the question is should the Republicans filibuster him? The answer?

Hell, I don't know. Generally, I don't like filibusters; I prefer a straight up or down vote. The guy will surely be confirmed, and what the hell is one more far-left liberal on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals?

Some say the Republicans need to choose their battles here-for example, the next Supreme Court nominee.

I greatly lament seeing judges like Liu put on the bench by Democratic presidents. From a law and order point of view, I saw the damage that judges appointed by Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton did with their lenient sentencing and other rulings when I was a DEA agent. This is why elections have consequences. People like Liu will be sitting on the bench long after the presidents have gone.