Groups Announce Support of Owen Nomination

The U.S. Senate should not allow any “left wing activist groups to hijack” the confirmation process of Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen, President Bush’s nominee for a federal appeals court, several groups said Monday.

“She’s just, very simply, an excellent, an extremely well qualified, and a very liked judge,” said Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel of Liberty Legal Institute, which says it specializes in the defense of religious freedoms and First Amendment rights.

Bush has nominated Owen for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which decides appeals from federal courts in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. A hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled for Thursday.

Shackelford made his comments Monday as his and other groups pledged their support for Owen after a coalition of labor, consumer and women’s rights groups last week labeled Owen an “ultraconservative activist” who opposes consumer and reproductive rights. The groups last week pledged to battle Owen’s confirmation the U.S. Senate.

Owen’s supporters say she received a unanimous “well-qualified” rating from the American Bar Association and that she faced little opposition in her state judicial elections and was elected overwhelmingly.

Groups that opposed Owen’s nomination are showing that they are out of step with Texas values, said Allan Parker, the chief executive officer for the Texas Justice Foundation.

“We feel those liberal special interest groups have no respect for the judgment of the people of Texas when they attack their Supreme Court justice and say she is not qualified,” said Parker, whose group says it provides free legal representation in cases to protect individual rights, limit government and promote a better business climate.

Shackelford said the only basis for the attacks by the groups is that Owen “won’t legislate their left-wing political agenda from the bench.”

The criticism Owen has received comes because she has tried to interpret laws passed by the Texas Legislature, which has been somewhat conservative, Shackelford said.

The coalition against Owen said last week that her opinions on the state Supreme Court, where Owen has served since 1995, are anti-consumer. They also criticized her rulings against young women who seek to bypass the state’s parental notification law for minor seeking abortions.

Cris Feldman, a staff attorney for Texans for Public Justice, which opposes Owen’s nomination, said Owen’s published opinions reveal an “extremist and activist by any measure” and said her defenders consist of a who’s who of the “right-wing fringe.”

“Furthermore, she is inefficient in processing her caseload and she repeatedly goes out of her way to protect large special interests,” Feldman said.

Owen’s office referred calls seeking comment to the U.S. Justice Department, where Monica Goodling said Owen would be an excellent federal judge.

Among the groups Monday that held the news conference to say they support Owen’s nomination were the Texas Justice Foundation; Free Market Foundation; Liberty Legal Institute; the Texas chapter of Concerned Women for America; Texas Eagle Forum; the Texas Home School Coalition; the Texas Christian Coalition; the Young Conservatives of Texas; and Texas Citizens for a Sound Economy.