Political Quotes

“Four out of seven recent reversals were decisions written by either a Reagan or Bush appointee from the Ninth Circuit. Somehow it wasn't brought out on the other side. As far as showing fairness, even for Clarence Thomas, who had a tie vote, with Republicans and Democrats voting against him in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Democrats, being in charge of the Senate, still allowed him to come forward for a vote even though normally that would have killed it. The circuits should not all be the same. Different circuits have different attitudes. They come from different parts of the country. If they were to be all the same, we might as well just have one big circuit for the whole country. The Second Circuit is different from the Third Circuit. The Third is different from the Fifth, and so on. I remind my friends on the other side, if we are going to have a litmus test for a circuit, let us understand what this means when applied to the Fourth Circuit. That is the most conservative and activist in the country. Ironically enough, we forget the fact the very conservative circuit can be a very activist circuit. Nobody would deny it is one of the most activist circuits in the country, rewriting legislation willy-nilly. If the argument is accepted from the other side, then no nominee other than one with a more liberal judicial philosophy should be confirmed in the foreseeable future to the Fourth Circuit. I am not trying to make that argument.”