Patrick Leahy: “Lavenski Smith is a young Arkansas political appointee, who has had a total of 7 years experience practicing law, has…”

“Lavenski Smith is a young Arkansas political appointee, who has had a total of 7 years experience practicing law, has had minimal Federal experience, minimal appellate experience, and no experience at all arguing in front of the Federal Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to which he has been nominated. He is nominated to the judgeship held by Judge Richard Arnold, one of the most distinguished judges ever to serve on the 8th Circuit. Mr. Smith served a brief term on the Arkansas Supreme Court, after being appointed by the Governor and before running for election to a lower State court judicial vacancy and losing. He also spent several years as the volunteer executive director of the Arkansas chapter of the Rutherford Institute, an organization devoted to, among other things, doing away with a woman's constitutional right to choose, and supporting efforts against Governor, and then President, Bill Clinton. The following is what the Arkansas Times had to say about Mr. Smith's qualifications: Lavenski Smith of Little Rock is not the best-qualified Arkansan President Bush could have chosen for the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, nor even close.”