Sen. Harry Reid not backing off support of judicial nominee

By Las Vegas Sun Staff (contact)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012 | 10:33 a.m.

Sen. Harry Reid isn't backing off his support of Elissa Cadish, his nominee for the federal bench, despite opposition from Sen. Dean Heller, Sun columnist Jon Ralston reports this morning.

“I will not ask Elissa Cadish to withdraw her nomination," Reid said. "She is supremely qualified and one of the most highly respected jurists in the state of Nevada. She deserves a hearing to defend herself. It is my hope that the process of her nomination is allowed to move forward and she is granted a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is my understanding that Senator Heller and Judge Cadish are going to meet and I am confident that will help resolve the issue.”

Through a spokesman, Heller said that wasn't the case, Ralston reported moments later via Twitter: "There is no meeting (with Cadish) scheduled." Heller did say, however, that he would be willing to meet with the Clark County judge.

Heller has said little publicly about his opposition to Cadish, who was nominated by Reid and President Barack Obama on Feb. 16. But Ralston has reported that the sticking point is her past statements on gun rights.

During her 2008 campaign, the conservative group Citizens for Responsible Government asked her about her in a questionnaire about her position on the right to bear arms. She answered: "I do not believe this is a constitutional right. Thus, I believe that reasonable restrictions may be imposed on gun ownership in the interest of public safety. Of course, I will enforce the laws as they exist as a judge."

She later clarified that answer, saying she was not expressing her personal opinion. In a letter to Reid written March 22, Cadish said: “This response was based on my understanding of the state of federal law at the time."

Weeks after Cadish filled out the questionnaire in 2008, the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller unequivocally stated the Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms to every individual — not every individual in a group or a militia, as alternate readings of the amendment suggested.

Asked last week why he opposed Cadish's nomination to the federal bench, Heller side-stepped the question. “I think that thing has played out in the press pretty accurately,” he told the Sun's Anjeanette Damon.

Heller continued: “I just want to be very clear that Sen. Reid and I will always work together to get federal judges selected here for Nevada, and we just have to agree on who that individual may be. I think I talked about and discussed a little bit about where she stands on the Second Amendment. That is a critical issue. We do need to support federal candidates who support the Constitution.”

Regardless, Heller's opposition likely dooms Cadish's nomination. Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, has a long-standing practice of requiring approval from both home-state senators before moving forward with hearings on a judicial nominee.