Senate Liberals Block Confirmation Of Judge Robert Conrad

June 24, 2008 – Liberal Senators on the Judiciary Committee are doing what they have done for years, they continue to block hearings on qualified judicial nominees for the federal bench. Contact your two U.S. Senators and ask that they put pressure on Sen. Leahy to schedule hearings for President Bush’s judicial nominees – especially Judge Robert Conrad!The most recently publicized judge to receive this unethical treatment is Judge Robert Conrad, a solid judicial conservative who was nominated by President Bush for the 4th Circuit Court, which covers parts of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and South Carolina. He is currently the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, where he has served with distinction.

Judge Conrad was nominated by President Bush last July, but has not yet had a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee headed by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who routinely blocks or stalls hearings on every judicial conservative.

On April 23, nine members of the Senate wrote a letter to Leahy asking him to expedite hearings for Conrad and Mr. Steve Matthews, for the 4th Circuit and Peter Keisler for the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Leahy, however continues to stall.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) promised the Republican leadership that he would confirm three Bush nominees by the holiday weekend (Memorial Day), but didn’t keep his word.

Ten appeals court nominees are still languishing in limbo awaiting hearings.

Conrad is being denied a hearing apparently because of his published views on promiscuous sex education and Planned Parenthood and his strong Catholic faith.

The judge, who also served on the Mecklenburg County Adolescent Health Task Force in 1987, wrote an editorial on sex education for the Charlotte Observer, in November 1991. In his column, he criticized promiscuous sex education. He stated: “My kids yours are not animals. They possess the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong – if we have the courage to teach it to them. Sexual promiscuity is wrong not because it leads to disease (so if it could be made ‘safe’ no moral significance would attach), but because it contradicts nature and nature’s God.”

In a 1988 editorial in the Charlotte Observer, Conrad wrote about Planned Parenthood. He called Planned Parenthood “the most radical legal advocate of unfettered abortion on demand” and called for defunding of Planned Parenthood in the county where he lived.

“Clearly, Leahy and his liberal cronies and leftist special interest groups are doing whatever they can to block President Bush’s conservative nominees to the federal bench,” said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty. “They are hoping to run out the clock in the hope that Sen. Barack Obama will be sworn in as President of the United States. Once this happens, Leahy will be rushing hearings and votes on liberal judges for the federal bench. The effort to reform the federal judiciary will be set back decades if this happens.

“The proper role of the Senate is to advise and consent, not obstruct and prevent votes on judicial nominees. Leahy is misusing his powerful position on this committee for ideological reasons.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Contact your two U.S. Senators and ask that they put pressure on Sen. Leahy to schedule hearings for President Bush’s judicial nominees – especially Judge Robert Conrad!

Additional Resources: Judges: Our Robed Masters; Imagine Patrick Leahy Heading The Senate Judiciary Committee!; Senate Judiciary Committee Head Continues To Stonewall Bush Nominees

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