Senate panel OKs ex-UNLV law professor for judge post

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003 | 11:14 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- A Senate panel today approved Nevada law professor Jay Bybee, setting up a full vote in the Senate on his nomination to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Bybee, nominated for the federal bench by President Bush, would need the support of a majority of senators, which would appear likely in the GOP-controlled Senate. It's not clear when a vote might be held.

Bybee has become one of a number of controversial federal bench nominees. Five Democrats on the Judiciary Committee earlier this month submitted written questions to Bybee, in hopes that Bybee would clarify what the senators considered controversial positions. But Bybee did not answer the questions adequately, the Democrats said. Several Democrats explained their opposition to Bybee before the committee voted 12-6 to send his nomination to the full Senate.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said he was concerned that Bybee was part of a culture of secrecy at the Justice Department. Bybee, on leave from his job at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada, is serving as a constitutional law adviser to Attorney General John Ashcroft at the Justice Department.

"In response to more than 20 different questions by five senators, Mr. Bybee refused to provide any answer that would allow us to review either his personal views about important legal positions that the administration has taken or whether he even rendered advice to the administration on these issues," Leahy said.

Others challenged Bybee's positions on issues.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said Bybee has taken "ultra-conservative positions that cause grave concern." Kennedy said Bybee has shown a narrow view of the power of Congress to protect civil rights. Kennedy said he was concerned Bybee was part of a number of initiatives that roll back civil rights by Ashcroft and the Justice Department, and was frustrated Bybee didn't explain his role.

Kennedy said he was concerned that Bybee had criticized a Supreme Court ruling that the Internal Revenue Service was not required to grant education-institution tax exemptions to Bob Jones University because the school practiced racial discrimination. Kennedy also cited Bybee's objection to a Supreme Court ruling in a Colorado case when the court struck down a Colorado constitutional amendment that nullified state laws that banned discrimination against gay people.

Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Joseph Biden, D-Del., said they were concerned that Bybee had not backed a new federal law creating a new, separate office in the Justice Department established to battle violence against women.