Democrats Block Bush Judicial Nominee on Environmental Grounds

By J.R. Pegg

WASHINGTON, DC, July 21, 2004 (ENS) - In a major victory for environmentalists, Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked the nomination of former Interior Department Solicitor William Myers to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

More than 180 conservation groups, Native American tribes, and other organizations opposed the nomination of the longtime mining and cattle industry lobbyist to the 9th Circuit. The appellate court hears cases referred from lower courts from nine Western states, and decides environmental law governing more than 485 million acres of public lands.

William Myers is associated with the Idaho law firm Holland & Hart. (Photo courtesy DOI)

The vote to close the filibuster was 53 to 44. Three Democrats - John Kerry of Massachusetts, John Edwards of North Carolina, and Zell Miller of Georgia - were not present for the vote.

Myers is the seventh Bush judicial nominee to be blocked by the Senate. Although 198 nominees have been approved, the issue has become one of the most politically divisive in Washington.

Myers is the first nominee opposed by Senators on environmental grounds, and the first to be formally opposed by Native American groups.

Democrats said Myers is far too extreme to sit on the federal bench and they repeatedly cited his record on environmental issues.

Myers is "probably the most anti-environmental nominee the administration has sent to the Senate," said Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. "He is neither qualified nor independent."

Senator Patrick Leahy (Photo courtesy Office of the Senator)

"We have tried to ensure the independence of the federal courts so that this administration and its enablers in the Senate would not successfully turn our courts into an arm of the Republican Party," Leahy said.

Leahy said that the stakes were high on the Myers nomination. "At stake is the longstanding acceptance of the Constitution’s commerce clause as the source of congressional authority to enact safeguards to protect our air, water, and land," he said.

"At stake is the true meaning of the Constitution’s Eleventh Amendment and the right of citizens to sue to enforce environmental protections," Leahy said, quoting Myers to prove his point.

Myers wrote, "Environmentalists are mountain biking to the courthouse as never before, bent on stopping human activity wherever it may promote health, safety and welfare."

"These positions raise concerns that plaintiffs in his courtroom who are members of environmental organizations will not be treated fairly," said Leahy.

But Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch said Myers would have added much needed balance to "the most liberal court in the nation."

Senator Orrin Hatch is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Photo courtesy Office of the Senator)

Myers' environmental record is central to the debate over his qualifications and independence because of the key role the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals plays in environmental issues.

Opponents fear his past tenure as a lawyer and lobbyist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the Public Lands Council and a host of mining companies - as well as his record at as the Interior Department's top lawyer from 2001 to 2003 - clearly demonstrates he is hostile to environmental protection.

“As his actions as Interior solicitor demonstrate, Mr. Myers sees nothing wrong with using public office to advance his personal agenda, which happens to match that of the mining and beef industries who employed him for most of his career,” said Buck Parker, executive director of Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm. “Fortunately, a sufficient number of senators saw through the Bush administration’s attempt to turn an anti-environmental activist into a lifetime federal judge.”

The Idaho lawyer has compared the management of public lands in the United States to King George's "tyrannical" rule over the American colonies and has said there is "no constitutional basis" for federal authority to protect wetlands under the Clean Water Act.

"His record screams passionate activist," said New York Democrat Charles Schumer. "He has not shown a single iota of moderation. He comes from such a narrow mindset that it is clear he does not belong on the federal bench."