Goodwin Liu heads before the Senate Judiciary Committee this afternoon for his second confirmation hearing, hoping to hurdle over staunch Republican opposition and secure a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
The National Law Journal will be there, so check back later today for updates. (Update at 5:40 p.m.: click here for our coverage.)
Liu’s first hearing in April 2010 was contentious, as Republicans questioned him about some of his academic writing and advocacy work. Liu is an associate dean and law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and he’s a former chairman of the liberal American Constitution Society.
The highly charged views about Liu (pictured above) don’t appear to have lessened in the past year. Ed Whelan, who served in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel under President George W. Bush, on Tuesday criticized Liu’s views about same-sex marriage. The Huffington Post has a column today supporting Liu by Richard Painter, a former associate White House counsel under Bush who nevertheless has sided with Democrats on some issues.
One subplot for today’s hearing involves Justice Samuel Alito Jr. Liu sharply criticized Alito in testimony before the Judiciary Committee in January 2006, in remarks that still anger conservatives. One of the committee’s new members is Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who clerked for Alito on the 3rd Circuit and on the Supreme Court.
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association is planning to host watch-parties today in support of Liu, whose parents came to the United States from Taiwan.
National Law Journal photo by Diego M. Radzinschi.
I find it SO amusing when a far right publication like the National Review blasts Liu and were supposed to take it seriously...
How about next time there is a republican president and when he or she makes a judicial nomination, we see what Keith Olbermann thinks of that nominee first...
Posted by: Rick | March 02, 2011 at 01:20 PM