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August 02, 2012 3:23 PM
About That Arizona Judge
Many of you who have been following the saga of the judicial review of the new Arizona abortion ban have probably noticed that the federal district judge who upheld the law got his lifetime appointment from Bill Clinton. “Wonder what’s up with that?” I asked myself. Fortunately, TNR’s Molly Redden has some answers:
When Clinton nominated Teilborg to the federal bench in 2000, Arizona’s courts were facing a daunting judicial backlog. To ameliorate it, Congress created three new U.S. District Court positions, and Sen. Jon Kyl recommended Teilborg to fill one of them. At the time, Teilborg was a Phoenix trial lawyer and longtime friend of Kyl’s who had given the senator $13,150 up to that time in campaign donations.
Immediately, Democrats in the GOP-controlled Senate blocked Teilborg’s confirmation and that of three others, in retaliation for Republicans’ refusal to hold confirmation hearings on Clinton’s many other judicial nominates—a hefty portion of which were minority or female candidates. Republicans made red-faced speeches about Tom Daschle’s dilatory tactics; Democrats gladly returned fire.
But in the stalemate, no one bothered to learn anything about the nominees who would, eventually, become judges. When Teilborg’s confirmation hearing inevitably came to pass, Democrats used it as an opportunity to issue furious sermons about Republican obstructionism, rather than examine the nominee. By the time Senate voted, there had been virtually no talk of his qualifications or objectives. One news account called the vote “an afterthought,” and Sen. Pat Leahy noted that Teilborg and three fellow nominees had “moved very, very, very rapidly.” He was confirmed in a vote of 95-0, becoming one of the very last nominees to join the federal bench in the Clinton era.
Years later, Sen. Pat Leahy would cite his confirmation as an act of Democratic cooperation. In a 2008 letter addressing Republican complaints about blocked judicial nominees, Leahy wrote, “Senator Kyl should recall that I cooperated with him over the years to confirm a number of judges in Arizona. … Among the last judges confirmed in 2000 was his good friend James Teilborg.”
So while Tielborg was indeed appointed by Clinton, he was widely regarded as a Republican pick who ascended to the bench amidst complex partisan maneuverings. Redden notes that he once sided with the famous right-wing attorney James Bopp to strike down a Montana effort to limit campaign contributions by an anti-choice group, but that may just reflect the kind of leanings you’d generally expect from a good friend of John Kyl’s.
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c u n d gulag on August 02, 2012 3:46 PM:
How could anyone consider anyone who was a friend of John Kyl's for any position of responsibility?
Any friend of John Kyl's is bound to be too stupid and nasty to have any positions of responsibility - especially any involving human beings.
Sh*t, I wouldn't hire this motherfecker to guard a flock of sheep on a deserted island, lest either the sheep come back with STD'S - and the "S" in "STD'S" don't stand for 'Sheep," either - or dead, because this boy'd be up all night yelling "SHEEP!" until the wolves finally got the hint.
DAY on August 02, 2012 3:59 PM:
Yet another instance of "research' in the Senate taking second place to "comity".
As in, "My dear, personal friend, the distinguished Senator from where ever."
John B. on August 02, 2012 6:44 PM:
I had the misfortune to watch John Kyle up close when he was a congressman from Northwest Iowa and foresaw he couldn't be reelected, and so moved to Arizona. Kyle really is rock-stupid, totally bereft of any sense of civic responsibility, and a borderline sociopath. The two genuine emotions he harbors are greed and personal ambition. Perfect for Arizona.
As for Tielborg and the Democrats, it would be erroneous to conclude the Democratic leadership didn't know how very bad he could be. Closed-door negotiations over a partisan deadlock doesn't stop the Senate staffers. They do their research, vetting and analysis. The reports were right there, for any Senator to read.
My guess is most didn't read the reports, some didn't understand them, and a few made the judgement that if McCain and Tielborg had no objections, so be it; there were more important things to attend to, like the next fund-raiser, the next $500 a plate dinner, and the next lobbyist with whom to crawl into bed.
With exceptions so few you can count them on one and a half hands, the U.S. Senate has become an embarrassment of conceit, vainglory, venality, corruption, stupidity, and incompetence -- on both sides of the aisle. It may now be third-worst in history, trumped only by the pro-slavery 19th Century equivalent of the Tea Party, 1845-1860 and the self-serving alcoholics and corporate puppets of the first Robber Barron era.
We are in only the first innings of the second Robber Barron era. Buckle your seat belts and keep a barf bag handy. Things are bound to get worse.
Anonymous on August 02, 2012 7:59 PM:
"Republican justice" is as big an oxymoron as "Republican intelligence."
yellowdog on August 02, 2012 9:51 PM:
One day in the far future someone is going to write a book about the fall of American democracy and that someone is going to pick John Kyl as an exemplar of how it all went wrong.
Consider the anti-hero this author will have to work with:
John Kyl - consistently wrong on the issues
John Kyl - elevated in the party time and again, honored for his service (or mere availability and seniority)
John Kyl - shielded from reality, unencumbered by the play of facts in the mind
John Kyl - unwilling to admit error or doubt
John Kyl - unfailingly able to blame problems on other people, from wars in far-off lands to the nasty spill of mayonnaise on his tie
John Kyl - soon to exit the revolving Senate door into lobby-land where he will be rewarded yet again for his contributions to the republic
John Kyl - when he looks good by comparison--Bachmann, anyone??--you know how degraded the GOP standard of public service has become
It will be a fine book - a tragedy and a farce at the same time.