Solicitor General Nominee Before Judiciary Committee
This morning, President Bushs nominee for Solicitor General, Paul Clement, has been appearing before the Judiciary Committee. Paul is a personal friend of mine and someone I have had the pleasure of working with on a number of Supreme Court cases over the last five years. Paul has served as Deputy Solicitor General under Ted Olson since 2001 and has done a remarkable job representing the interests of the United States. We wholeheartedly endorse Paul, and word this morning is that his nomination will go through smoothly. I dispatched two of our Legislative Affairs Team members to Capitol Hill to attend the hearing in case last minute issues came up. Everything appears to be going very well as I write this report this morning. Paul was instrumental in assisting us in a variety of briefs for the Supreme Court, including Bush v. Gore, the Texas football game prayer case, and a couple of our abortion protest cases. Paul also recently argued on behalf of the United States in the Ten Commandments cases, supporting the displays.
Our Northeast regional office has been involved in litigation over inclusion of a faith-based rehabilitation program for a Pennsylvania prison system. Vince McCarthy, Senior Counsel for the ACLJ, as well as our Virginia-based senior research team, has been preparing for this important case which, in essence, challenges the Presidents faith-based initiative. We represent the county that was sued in this case for offering the faith-based alternative. It is important to understand that there were a variety of programs that inmates might choose; the faith-based approach was only one of the options. I have asked our Special Appellate Counsel Paul Larkin to assist Vince in this case, since it is inevitable that the case will be appealed to the Court of Appeals and, ultimately, the Supreme Court of the United States. I think this is a critically important case and one that offers hope to those who are incarcerated to lead productive lives upon release. We need to do everything we can to make sure these programs stay in place.
Meanwhile, our Midwest office has been litigating a case on behalf of a pastor who was actually arrested for holding an illegal church service in a St. Louis, Missouri, suburb. The pastor was cited for violating an ordinance because they were holding the church services in a day care center on Sunday mornings. The day care center is zoned commercial and had been utilized for these church worship services for well over two years. This case is in criminal court, and Geoff Surtees from our Midwest office is handling this litigation.
In Washington, DC, the battle over judges continues; and I encourage you to check our website for frequent updates on this issue. If you have not yet joined with us in our petition to end this judicial filibuster, we encourage you to do so online at the TAKE action now! section of our home page at www.aclj.org.