Patrick Leahy: “In part, this article says: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy has held hearings on 82 Bush judicial…”

“In part, this article says: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy has held hearings on 82 Bush judicial nominations, 80 of which have been approved by the committee. Most of those nominees have been pro-life conservatives whose performance on the bench the committee still judged to be fair and professional. For example, last week the committee unanimously reported on President Bush's choice of Federal District Judge Reena Raggi of New York for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Parenthetically, I might add that Judge Raggi was originally appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a conservative Republican who promised to appoint only judges who satisfied his litmus test. The American people appreciate balanced judging, and thanks to the Senate Judiciary Committee, they're getting it. Through constant repetition, conservatives have managed to make a code phrase out of 'judicial activism,' applying it to rulings that in their mind go beyond the words in legislation or the U.S. Constitution. But conservatives themselves are hardly immune from the problem. Case in point: Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen, rejected last week for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by the Senate Judiciary Committee because of her record of making law from the bench.”