African-American Attorney Summit and Leadership Breakfast
Tuesday February 25, 2014
8-9am
Commerce Club
191 Peachtree St. NE
Atlanta, GA 30303
Please RSVP as soon as possible if you are able to attend
Hosted By:
Quinton G. Washington, Melaniece McKnight, AshleyBell, Chris Stewart, Tracee Benzo President of Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, Reginald Lewis, Antavius Weems President of Georgia Association of African American Attorneys, Charles Johnson, William Boddie, Mawuli Davis
Suggested Donation $100, $250, and $500 with a $250 donation to host.
Host donations must be received by noon on Friday February 21, 2014
African-American Attorney Summit and Leadership Breakfast
Tuesday February 25, 2014
8-9am
Commerce Club
191 Peachtree St. NE
Atlanta, GA 30303
Please RSVP as soon as possible if you are able to attend
Hosted By:
Quinton G. Washington, Melaniece McKnight,
AshleyBell, Chris Stewart, Tracee Benzo
President of Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, Reginald Lewis,
Antavius Weems President of Georgia Association of African American Attorneys,
Charles Johnson, William Boddie, Mawuli Davis
Suggested Donation $100, $250, and $500 with a $250
donation to host.
Host donations must be received by noon on Friday
February 21, 2014
Conservative views make him unsuitable as Obama nominee for U.S. judge, they say.
R. Robin McDonald, Daily Report
When federal judicial nominee Michael Boggs recounted bills he had
sponsored as a Georgia legislator in a questionnaire for the U.S. Senate
Judiciary Committee, he sounded earnest and, occasionally, even a
little dull.
But his list of legislation—which included strengthening the state's
child pornography laws, rewriting the state Probate Code and requiring
criminal background checks for bail bondsmen—didn't mention his
sponsorship of far more controversial measures reflecting a conservative
political agenda at odds with the president who has nominated him to
the U.S. District Court.
Boggs, who served as a Democrat from 2001 to 2004 in the Georgia House
of Representatives, made no mention of a resolution he introduced in the
House in 2004 calling for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex
marriage. Speaking on the floor of the House, Boggs said the amendment
was "premised on good conservative Christian values" and intended to
guard against rulings by "activist judges" who might overturn a state
law that already barred gay marriage.
Now a judge on the Georgia Court of Appeals, Boggs also failed to
mention his sponsorship of bills that remain anathema to progressive
Democrats—enacting more limits on abortion and placing the Ten
Commandments in Georgia's 159 county courthouses—and his vote to retain
the Confederate battle emblem on the state flag.
A lawyer from the southeast Georgia district Boggs used to represent
said Boggs was merely reflecting his conservative, "Bible Belt"
constituency by promoting those legislative efforts. She and another
attorney who also tried cases before Boggs when he was a Superior Court
judge in Waycross said Boggs would have no trouble separating his
advocacy role as a legislator from his mandate as a judge to fairly and
impartially administer the law.
But Boggs' legislative record has provided fodder for more than two
dozen national progressive and civil rights organizations that are
urging the Democratic-controlled Senate to reject his nomination.
Boggs could not be reached for comment and—like other federal judicial
nominees—has avoided comment on issues associated with his nomination.
Package deal
Boggs' nomination is part of a package deal that the White House cut
with Georgia's two Republican senators last year. That deal allowed U.S.
Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss to name one nominee to the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and three of four
nominees to the district court.
In return, Isakson and Chambliss have reportedly agreed to lift their
objections to Atlanta litigator Jill Pryor, whose nomination to the
Eleventh Circuit they have stalled for two years. Pryor's nomination has
been championed by her longtime law partner, Emmet Bondurant, the
former chairman of Georgia Common Cause who has challenged
Republican-sponsored measures such as Georgia's voter photo ID law.
The deal also has Georgia's senators agreeing to the nomination of
Leigh Martin May, whose candidacy for the federal bench they first
rejected in 2009. May, a co-founder of the Red Clay Democrats, is a law
partner of James Butler Jr., one of the state's most prominent
plaintiffs attorneys.
A spokesman for the progressive group Democracy for America dismissed
the idea that Boggs' nomination was a necessary compromise.
"We understand there are times you do some kind of horse-trading in
politics," said Neil Sroka. "But there is a difference in horse-trading
and caving on core values. This is an example of the White House caving
and giving far too much to the right in a lifetime judicial
appointment."
"From everything we have learned about him," Sroka continued, "he
[Boggs] is a candidate that the right wing has been desperate to have on
the federal judiciary."
Abortion, religion and race
Among the bills Boggs sponsored as a legislator but omitted from his
Senate Judiciary questionnaire was one establishing a "pro-life" license
plate that would have generated funds for crisis pregnancy centers that
didn't provide abortion counseling or abortion-related procedures.
Other bills he sponsored would have required minors to seek permission
of a parent or guardian before they could obtain an abortion, even in
cases of incest and rape, and required that a minor seeking an abortion
also must be accompanied by a parent or guardian with a state-issued
photo identification.
Last week, NARAL Pro-Choice America launched a campaign to stop Boggs'
confirmation. "We look to our judicial branch to protect and uphold our
values and freedoms," Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice
America, told the Daily Report. Boggs' legislative record, she added,
"shows that he will push his personal agenda instead of listening to the
cases in front of him without bias."
UniteWomen.org Action this week launched a Twitter campaign, #No2Boggs,
to defeat his confirmation. In conjunction with the Twitter campaign,
the organization posted on its website an open letter to President
Barack Obama, calling Boggs' nomination "an extreme step backwards" and
asking the president to withdraw it.
Another bill that is generating concern is one he sponsored with
then-House Minority Leader Glenn Richardson and four other lawmakers,
calling for the display of the Ten Commandments in all of Georgia's 159
county courthouses. The bill, which said the display was also to include
copies of the Mayflower Compact and the Declaration of Independence,
authorized the state attorney general to defend the counties against
federal lawsuits challenging the practice as unconstitutional. That bill
included language that "Biblical literacy contributed importantly in
the development of American law and constitutionalism."
A spokeswoman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State
said what the organization has uncovered so far about Boggs has already
caused "great concern."
Along with the Ten Commandments bill, Maggie Garrett noted that Boggs
backed a measure asking the U.S. Congress to affirm that the U.S. is a
Judeo-Christian nation and a resolution in support of "In God We Trust"
as the national motto.
Those bills show "a fundamental misreading of the U.S. Constitution,
which is not really a trait you want in a federal judge," said Garrett, a
former lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. "At
this point, we have reservations and concerns, but we are still
examining the record."
Boggs' civil rights record and his 2001 vote to retain the Confederate
battle emblem as part of Georgia's state flag have also drawn the ire of
the NAACP, Georgia's Democratic congressmen, and a coalition of the
state's minority bar associations. At a Dec. 23 news conference in
Atlanta, state Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, said that the NAACP's
examination of Boggs' legislative record "shows that Michael Boggs is on
the wrong side of history. The votes we have looked at tell us that
Michael Boggs does not understand the idea of inclusion, the idea of
diversity, the idea of simple justice."
'Conservative judicial philosophy'
A 1990 graduate of Mercer University's Walter F. George School of Law,
Boggs was in private practice from 1990 until 2004, first at McKenzie
& McPhail and its successor, McKenzie, Martin, Taylor &
McConnaughey in Atlanta, then at Thomas & Settle in Waycross,
Landers & Boggs in Waycross, and as a sole practitioner.
After he was appointed to the Waycross Circuit Superior Court by
Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue in 2005, Boggs founded the circuit's drug
court and served until 2012, when he was appointed to the Court of
Appeals by Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. For the past two years, Boggs
has served as co-chairman of Deal's Council on Criminal Justice Reform.
"The judiciary continues to endure criticism, fairly earned in some
cases, of abrogating their constitutionally created authority by issuing
decisions that venture into policy making," Boggs wrote. "Partisan
political campaigns are increasingly politicizing our judiciary, in part
because of judicial decisions that have ignored or violated the basic
tenets of the judiciary, that policy making is the sole province of a
duly elected citizen legislature."
Blackshear attorney John Thigpen, who told the Daily Report this week
that he probably has tried more cases, both criminal and civil, in front
of Boggs than any other lawyer, said Boggs' political stances while a
state legislator would not affect his ability to be fair on the bench.
"I don't think that would interfere one bit with him doing the right
thing," Thigpen said. "He's a man's man, OK? He knows what to do and how
to do it. I've been practicing law 35 years. As far as I'm concerned,
he's top of the line."
Thigpen said that Boggs represented his district while he was a Georgia
legislator and that he thought highly of him in that role as well. "He
was conscientious. He knew what his constituents wanted," Thigpen said.
"We're in the Bible Belt down here. … I think he was doing what his
constituency wanted him to do. And that was his job."
Thigpen also dismissed criticism that legislation Boggs had sponsored
might signal he would entertain a bias should those matters be litigated
in his courtroom. "He will look way beyond that," Thigpen said.
Brunswick attorney James Durham, a former member of the state Judicial
Qualifications Commission and former president of the State Bar of
Georgia, also defended Boggs. He told the Daily Report this week that he
has tried cases in front of Boggs in the Waycross Judicial Circuit,
saying, "I have never seen anything but complete fairness from Mike
Boggs in a courtroom."
"I don't know that you can equate what somebody did as a
representative," with his role as a judge, Durham said. "That's a
different job. That's representing a constituency. I assume, in most
cases, people try to represent their constituencies as they think they
would vote."
Durham added: "It doesn't have anything to do with how somebody would
be on the bench as a judge and how they would apply the law. I have
never seen anything that would indicate to me that Judge Boggs would
have a personal opinion in his rulings."
Doesn't reflect 'Obama's values'
State Rep. Karla Drenner, the first openly lesbian woman elected to the
Georgia House of Representatives, served with Boggs during his four
years there. She told the Daily Report, "He doesn't depict any of the
values the Obama administration stands for. … I don't know why we would
want to appoint someone for life who doesn't share the visions, the
values that this current president has."
Drenner described Boggs as "a vocal opponent" of same-sex marriage and
identified him as "the first Democrat to come out in favor of a
constitutional amendment to ban it in Georgia. At the time, the state
already had a law on the books barring same-sex marriage, and Drenner
called the constitutional amendment "one of the most contentious issues"
the legislature has faced.
Drenner, D-Avondale Estates, recorded the resulting debate on the
resolution in February 2004, including Boggs' introductory speech, which
she supplied to the Daily Report. In that speech, Boggs said, "It's my
opinion, both as a Christian, as a lawyer and as a member of this House,
that it's our opportunity to stand up in support of this resolution."
"I think it's important to recognize the dangers that we face with
respect to activist judges, with respect to mayors who are operating in
derogation of current state law," he continued.
"I submit to you that proposing a constitutional amendment that, in
fact, mirrors the language, for the most part, that is ... codified in
Georgia's Defense of Marriage Act will give us an additional safeguard,"
Boggs said, according to a transcript of Drenner's recording. "It will,
in fact, prohibit state constitutional challenges to the proposition …
that is outlined in Georgia law already. … I submit to you that whether
you're a Democrat or whether you're a Republican, whether you're rural
from a rural area, like myself, or whether you represent an urban area,
we have opportunities seldom [seen] in my short tenure in the
legislature to stand up for things that are commonsensical; things that
are premised on good conservative Christian values, and, in this
instance in particular, to support the sanctity of marriage. I'm going
to ask all of you like me to support this proposition."
In recalling that debate, Drenner said, "I don't think that Judge
Boggs, in this new capacity, would be any friend to the gay community or
any other progressive agenda that the Obama administration has
supported. … He's going to be part and parcel of the reason why the
South won't move forward. Look at his history: no on same-sex marriage,
no on a woman's right to choose, no on changing the flag."
That Boggs omitted from his Senate questionnaire his sponsorship of the
socially conservative legislation "shows that he knew they are points
of contention, and he has probably not changed his opinion," she said.
"Either by omission or commission, it is still a lie."
At the December news conference, Fort said the constitutional amendment
to ban same-sex marriage was part of a nationwide, and largely
successful, push by "the far right of the Republican Party" to turn out
the vote in 2004.
Last October, after the Daily Report identified Boggs as one of the
possible nominees for the federal bench in Atlanta, Fort and
representatives of several civil rights organizations in
Georgia—including the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, the
NAACP, and Georgia Women's Action for New Directions—voiced their
objections to Boggs because in 2001 he had cast a vote to retain
Georgia's old state flag, emblazoned with the Confederate battle emblem.
Boggs was one of 82 legislators, including current state Democratic
Party chairman Dubose Porter, who voted not to strip the flag of its
Confederate symbol.
At a news conference, Fort said, "We are very concerned that a judge,
while a legislator, in the 21st century voted for the Confederate flag.
It is reasonable for the public to be concerned about whether he is
committed to fairness."
A coalition of African-American lawyers and bar associations in Georgia
which also is opposed to Boggs has asked Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., for permission to testify in opposition
to the slate of nominees at their confirmation hearings.
A committee spokeswoman told the Daily Report this week that those
hearings have not been scheduled because neither Isakson or Chambliss
have returned blue slips to the committee signaling their willingness to
support the president's nominees and because committee Republicans are
still reviewing background materials on the Georgia nominees.
Spokeswomen for both Chambliss and Isakson could not be reached for
comment.
U.S. Rep. David Scott, a Democrat whose district includes parts of
Clayton, Cobb, Douglas, Fulton, Fayette and Henry counties, also has
sought permission to testify at the Senate judicial confirmation
hearings, and at a meeting earlier this month with the Congressional
Black Caucus and presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett challenged Jarrett
and the White House to have Boggs' name withdrawn.
"Why should we have judges nominated for life who have such biases in
their backgrounds," Scott said. "Sometimes it's better to have these
positions vacant than to put these people in with prejudiced opinions
against African-Americans, against gay people, against women's
reproductive rights. … It can't stand. Georgia is better than that."
U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., took aim at Georgia's two
Republican U.S. senators today over concerns raised by members of the
Congressional Black Caucus that not enough African-Americans are being
nominated to the federal bench in Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
Norton, co-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus' Judicial
Nominations working group, released a joint statement with chairwoman
Marcia Fudge of Ohio.
In her statement, Norton blamed "the unusually high number of federal
judicial vacancies" on the blue slip process – a senatorial courtesy
that has stalled confirmation hearings for presidential nominees by
requiring both of a nominee's home state senators to signal either their
approval or lack of objection by returning a 'blue slip' to the U.S.
Senate Judiciary Committee.
Norton said that the blue slip process "is being used to keep qualified
African-American nominees from being nominated or moving forward."
She said the Congressional Black Caucus would hold the Republican
senators from Alabama, Georgia and Florida, including Georgia
Republicans Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, "equally responsible if
African Americans the administration desires cannot be nominated or are
nominated by the Administration and are then unfairly held up with use
of the blue slip system."
"We intend to not only hold the senators responsible, but to inform
their constituents in the 11th Circuit, and other circuits, who are
dependent on them – and us – to ensure the fair appointment of judges,"
she continued.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which covers Alabama, Georgia and Florida, is headquartered in Atlanta.
Norton also said that although the Congressional Black Caucus
"recognizes that Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy, D-Vt,
has worked very hard to get the administration's nominees through his
committee and to the floor," members of the black caucus have asked to
meet with Leahy "in light of the use of the blue slip process in the
Judiciary Committee and what can be done to see that this process is not
used to veto the Administration's nominations."
The nomination of Jill Pryor, a partner at Atlanta's Bondurant, Mixson
& Elmore, for a seat on the Eleventh Circuit, has been stalled for
two years by Chambliss and Isakson, who have consistently refused to
return a blue slip for Pryor to the Senate judiciary committee.
The two senators have reportedly agreed to set aside their objections
to Pryor as part of a package deal they cut with the White House
counsel.
When three civil rights legends on whose necks you placed the Presidential Medal of Freedom speak, you listen.
But as President Barack Obama has shown, you don’t necessarily change your mind.
The
outcry from Georgia’s Democratic members of Congress and civil rights
leaders about the president’s judicial appointments has been heard
inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. White House senior adviser Valerie
Jarrett, who has a close personal relationship with both Obamas, and
counsel Kathy Ruemmler had four members of the Congressional Black
Caucus in for a chat last week about judicial appointments.
The remarkable schism between Obama and some of his core political allies went national after a powerful news conference at Ebenezer Baptist Church featuring the Rev. Joseph Lowery, Rep. John Lewis and the Rev. C.T. Vivian denouncing a six-judge slate proposed to fill longstanding vacancies in Georgia’s federal courts. That’s Medal of Freedom classes of 2009, 2010 and 2013, respectively.
They want more than one racial minority (DeKalb County state court Judge Eleanor Ross) in a group presiding over a state that’s only 63 percent white.
They object to Judge Michael Boggs’ vote to keep the old Georgia state
flag, featuring a Confederate emblem, when he was in the Legislature and
attorney Mark Cohen’s defense of Georgia’s voter-ID law in court.
But
at its heart, this is a power struggle. Will Obama stand up to
Republican senators who hold an effective veto over home-state judicial
nominees? Will House Democrats get to exert influence, even though their
body has no formal role in the nominations process?
Rep. David
Scott, an Atlanta Democrat, said he happened upon the judicial nominees
meeting as he arrived at the White House for a larger get-together on
Obama’s agenda. He used the opportunity to give Jarrett an impassioned
plea to take back the nominees: “This is an African-American president,
and that’s what’s hurting so many of the people,” Scott told Jarrett.
Her response: “She just stood there and she just listened and looked at me.”
Georgia
Republican Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss negotiated with the
White House for years as the vacancies piled up, straining
the Northern District of Georgia and Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Court
of Appeals. By custom of the Senate Judiciary Committee, home-state
senators must approve of nominees, and Chambliss and Isakson had used
the power to block White House choices.
One of Georgia’s slots has been open since 2009. Four have been declared “judicial emergencies” by the U.S. Courts for the workload of the court and the length of the opening.
After
lengthy, sometimes acrimonious negotiations, the nominee deal came
together late last year. The nominees are still being vetted by the
Senate Judiciary Committee staff, and when the process is done Chambliss
and Isakson say they will submit “blue slips” to allow the picks to go
forward.
The White House has given no indication that it is
backing off the deal, either. To respond in the spin war, the White
House communications team put together a social media-friendly graphic touting all the diversity in Obama’s judicial picks, from minorities to women to gays.
Critics
argue those gains have come in Democratic states, as Obama is not
fighting for diversity in Southern states with high black populations
and white Republican senators.
Scott hopes to make his case in
front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a quest that remains highly
unlikely. He recently sat at the committee offices for an hour, he said,
hoping to catch Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., in person. When Leahy
never came by, Scott left a note.
“I don’t know whether I can
change anybody’s mind,” Scott said. “But Georgia and my people of
Georgia deserve to be heard on this. … To shut Democrats out the way
this White House has done, that’s a dastardly deed."
