To the Editor:
Re “Mixed Results for Bush in Battles Over Judges” (“The Bush Record” series, front page, Oct. 22):
The president’s nominees to federal circuit courts have been judged conservative for their stands on hot-button issues like abortion. But a review of their financial disclosure forms and Senate questionnaires reveals that the nominees are more notable for their close ties to corporate and economic interests, especially the energy and mining industries.
Some of them were paid lobbyists for those same interests. Further, the nominees with industry ties were overwhelmingly appointed to circuit courts regarded as traditional battlegrounds over litigation affecting these industries. Independent observers we’ve talked to who follow the federal bench believe that the extensive corporate involvement among so many of the nominees is unprecedented.
Burton Glass
Executive Director
Center for Investigative Reporting
San Francisco, Oct. 22, 2004