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More Parsky Watch Parsky Watch - The Magazine Take the Parsky Watch IQ Test Visit the Parsky Watch Store	Back to News archives Suit Says Nomination Panel Usurped Bush News #7 June 11, 2002 By David Houston Daily Journal Staff Writer LOS ANGELES - Bush administration advisor and California's two Democratic senators violated U.S. anti-secrecy laws and "usurped" the president's authority by setting up a bipartisan committee to pick federal judicial nominees, a conservative group alleged in a lawsuit. The committee, led by financier and Bush family confidant Gerald L. Parsky of Los Angeles, is an experiment in trying to pick qualified judicial candidates who will easily pass Senate confirmation. But the Escondido-based U.S. Justice Foundation, a conservative nonprofit group, says the committee effectively hijacked the president's authority. "[I]nstead of the president being able to have input, through his relationships with the United States Senators and/or United States Congressmen from his own party, these three individuals in the state of California have usurped that role and only forward to the president those names that they jointly find pleasing to themselves, ideologically and/or otherwise," the lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, states. Parsky and the senators also are in violation of federal anti-secrecy laws, including the Federal advisory Committee Act and the Government in the Sunshine Act, the group's lawsuit alleges. Parsky and the senators "have decided that, since they want to control this process, and make decisions on their own, they will do so in secret, depriving the public, and the president, of any input or information as to the process," the complaint alleges. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of failed Central District U.S. Attorney candidate Patrick J. Manshardt, asks for an emergency injunction to halt the committee's work. Spokespersons for Parsky and Sen. Barbara Boxer could not be reached for comment. Howard Gantman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein's spokesman, declined to comment on the lawsuit but said, "the process is producing good, well-qualified candidates who can be swiftly confirmed." Some Republicans close to the committee have grumbled that the lawsuit is an example of the chasm between the California GOP's core conservatives and moderate party members. "This isn't helpful, especially so close to the [November] election," one Republican said, invoking Ronald Reagan's famous Eleventh Commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Speak Ill of Another Republican." Republicans on the committee recommend nominees to be U.S. attorney and U.S. marshal in the state's four federal judicial districts. Debra Yang, a Superior Court judge, was recently confirmed U.S. attorney in Los Angeles. The committee approved Yang, but some members made it known she was not their first choice. Traditionally the state's senior senator from the president's party recommends nominees to be district-court judges and U.S. attorney and U.S. marshal. Under Senate rules, a single senator can keep a judicial nominee from his or her state from coming to a confirmation vote. Because Feinstein and Boxer are Democrats, Parsky, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, and the senators came up with the bipartisan committee to select judicial nominees that appeal to Democrats and Republicans. Three Republicans and three Democrats sit on each of the four subcommittees. They interview applicants and forward a slate of names to Parsky for possible nomination. A candidate must get four votes to be forwarded to Parsky. Parsky then interviews the slate and decides which names to send to the White House. He typically sends two or three names for each available slot. The White House does not have to pick any of the names Parsky sends. Three judicial nominees were sent to the Senate for confirmation, so far. The committee recommended all of them. Jack Walter and Percy Anderson, a Republican and an Independent from Los Angeles, respectively, were confirmed quickly. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Morris England, a Republican, is expected to face confirmation in coming weeks. Nevertheless, Republicans in Washington, D.C., also have complained in recent weeks that they were displeased with the committee's work. The U.S. Justice Foundation's Gary G. Kreep said, "The people involved in the committee have let it be known that [judicial candidates] that don't agree with George Bush and the Republicans on abortion and a number of other conservative issues need not apply." "It's very clear, Parsky does not like conservatives - and that's fine. But at least be honest enough to put that out in front. Don't be secret about it just so you won't have to take any flak." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DAILY JOURNAL NEWSWIRE ARTICLE http://www.dailyjournal.com © 2002 The Daily Journal Corporation. All rights reserved.