Senate Should Reject Disturbing Judicial Nominee

The Senate is poised for a vote on a judicial nominee who backs abortion - a nominee who many believe has a record of extremism - a nominee for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The ACLJ has produced an analysis of the record of Goodwin Liu.  It is posted here. The findings are troubling and show that he embraces radical positions outside the mainstream of American law.

Liu, a liberal University of California law professor, is expected to face a cloture vote in the Senate on Thursday. 

He failed to receive Senate approval in the last Congress and faces a tough formal road through a more closely divided Senate this time around.   Here's were we stand.  All 53 Democrat Senators are expected to support Liu.  That means the Democrats need to convince 7 Republican Senators to vote for Liu - to get to 60 votes - to avoid a filibuster.

Liu has been correctly criticized by many for his judicial philosophy - a philosophy that fails to embrace the concept that the U.S. Constitution should be applied as written.  Instead, Liu believes the Constitution evolves over time.  We've prepared an extensive look at Liu's judicial philosophy.  It is posted here.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) says Liu, is far too liberal to be approved.
 
"In Professor Liu's case, I believe the views expressed in his writings fall far outside the mainstream of the traditional American view of law and judging, going so far as to distort the meaning of plain words beyond reality," he said.

Especially critical will be the votes of 11 Republicans who are hesitant to deny cloture to any judicial nominee – a reasonable position, but one that should include exceptions for "extraordinary circumstances" such as Goodwin Liu. 

Those 11 Republicans that will be key if the Liu nomination is to be defeated are:

Lamar Alexander
Scott Brown
Saxby Chambliss
Susan Collins
Lindsey Graham
Johnny Isakson
Mark Kirk
John McCain
Lisa Murkowski
Olympia Snowe
John Thune

Any of these Senators can be reached by dialing the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.  Call now and urge these Senators to reject the nomination of Goodwin Liu.