• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Film/TV/Stream
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Tech/Science
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Monkeypox is spreading as college students return to campuses. Some universities are still preparing
  • Carl Nassib, First Openly Gay Active NFL Player, Returning To Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  • Dustin Lance Black ‘called police after nightclub altercation’

Professor Goodwin Liu and the Delicate Egos of Senate Republicans

Ari Ezra Waldman May 19, 2011

BY ARI EZRA WALDMAN

Ari Ezra Waldman is a 2002 graduate of Harvard College and a 2005 graduate of Harvard Law School. After practicing in New York for five years and clerking at a federal appellate court in Washington, D.C., Ari is now on the faculty at California Western School of Law in San Diego, California. His research focuses on gay rights and the First Amendment. Ari will be writing weekly posts on law and various LGBT issues. 

Follow Ari on Twitter at @ariezrawaldman.

GoodwinliuIn a striking, but entirely expected, example of the intellectual dishonesty and inconsistency of most Republicans in the Senate, the upper house today failed to invoke cloture on the nomination of UC Berkeley Law Professor Goodwin Liu to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. With 42 votes, Senate Republicans — all of them, since it was the newly-independent senator from Alaska, Liza Murkowski, who was the lone member of the Republican caucus to vote with her Democratic colleagues to end debate — blocked an "up-or-down" vote on a brilliant man who even conservatives think would be a great addition to the circuit court.

Republicans gave various reasons for their "no" votes. Professor Liu is "too liberal," "too radical," "out of the mainstream," "he believes in a wholesale rewriting of our values," "he's crazy," and so on. Former George W. Bush Administration lawyer Richard Painter addressed these baseless myths of Professor Liu's liberalism in an extensive article published at the Huffington Post. His arguments are so succinct, so thorough and so correct that I will not repeat them here.

Conservatives were particularly enraged by Professor Liu's supposed views on marriage equality. We should be used to the phenomenon of conservatives arguing that the recognition of gay persons' basic equality is somehow "radical," but, to be honest, I'm not even sure Professor Liu has a view on what the Constitution says about marriage equality. In 2007, Professor Liu joined an amicus brief by 17 law professors arguing that California laws against same-sex marriage violates the California Constitution. The anti-gay conservative writer Ed Whelan over at the National Review Online who famously compared Justice Elena Kagan to a prostitute, thinks Professor Liu's presence on this amicus brief is enough to conclude that Liu supports the "invention of a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage." But, the California Constitution is different than our nation's highest law. Neither the amicus brief nor any public comments and writings even touch on what Professor Liu thinks the federal Constitution says about marriage equality. He's simply never addressed it. And, in fact, he has even argued that the California Supreme Court was right to uphold Proposition 8 when it did, a position that won Professor Liu no liberal bona fides. This should show Senate Republicans that Professor Liu is willing to recognize what the law is rather than what he would like it to be. 

But it was the always honest Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) whose impolitic and refreshing candor zeroed in on the pettiness of Senate Republicans (himself included): "His outrageous attack on Judge Alito convinced me that Goodwin Liu is an ideologue," Sen. Graham said before today’s vote. "His statement showed he has nothing but disdain for those who disagree with him. Goodwin Liu should run for elected office, not serve as a judge."

Professor Liu testified against the nomination of then-Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, calling the conservative jurist an "ideologue" and "unduly harsh" in his decisions. He said that "Judge Alito's record envisions an America where police may shoot and kill an unarmed boy to stop him from running away with a stolen purse … where a black man may be sentenced to death by an all-white jury for killing a white man." During his own confirmation hearings, Professor Liu backtracked, calling his remarks "overly flowery," "unhelpful" in an already polarized process and evidence of his own "poor judgment" at the time.

Herein lie the two lessons of today's sorry and unfortunate vote.

First, if you want to be a judge, you cannot have any opinions about other people's views, and if you do, state your disagreements with the muted tones of a man who doesn't like his wife's new haircut. Second, when you do air your academic debates and find yourself to the left of some of your colleagues, Senate Republicans are willing to throw you under the bus and ignore their Gang of 14 commitments. The Gang of 14 was a group of senators who pledged to support judicial nominees absent extraordinary circumstances and regardless of party. It is hard to see how Professor Liu was anything other than extraordinarily qualified except for when he ticked off a few petty Republicans who did not like his characterization of a right-wing judge from New Jersey.

This episode also shows that judicial fights are getting worse. Up to now, many of us had thought that Borking a nominee — blocking the nomination of a judge you disagreed with — was all about politics, your own views and your substantive disagreements with the views of the nominee. That's bad enough, considering that what we want in our judges are the best and brightest regardless of party. Now we see that, at least when it comes to Senate Republicans, judicial confirmation votes will resemble the petty and childish rules of the schoolyard.

Topics: News More Posts About: Ari Ezra Waldman, Law - Gay, LGBT, News

Related Posts
  • Russia Blocks Facebook, Accusing it of Restricting Access to Russian Media;
  • Duran Duran Has New Music And You Are About To Enjoy it. It’s 2021. Seriously.
  • ‘Mayor Pete’ Trailer; Papa Pete Pwns Tucker; 4-Stars for Dr. Rachel Levine; JoJo Siwa’s Perfect 10s; Lynda Carter’s 8 Wonder-full Words: GOOD NEWS
  • Carl Nassib, First Openly Gay Active NFL Player, Returning To Tampa Bay Buccaneers

    Carl Nassib, First Openly Gay Active NFL Player, Returning To Tampa Bay Buccaneers

    Published by uInterview.com Linebacker Carl Nassib, who made history in 2021 as the first active NFL player to come out as gay publicly, is returning to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 2022/2023 season. Nassib announced …Read More »
  • Dustin Lance Black ‘called police after nightclub altercation’

    Dustin Lance Black ‘called police after nightclub altercation’

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Dustin Lance Black reportedly called the police after getting into an altercation with an events promoter in London on Thursday (18.08.22). The 48-year-old screenwriter and director was enjoying a romantic date …Read More »
  • Catching UP With Randy Rainbow Who Sums Up the Case Against Donald Jessica Trump: And More Recent Dispatches

    Catching UP With Randy Rainbow Who Sums Up the Case Against Donald Jessica Trump: And More Recent Dispatches

    Randy addresses the obvious Trump meltdown and makes the case for Garland. okay everyone welcome back to the january 6th hearings which will finally determine the criminal culpability of former fake president donald jessica trump now …Read More »
  • Appeals court orders release of key memo Bill Barr used to justify refusal to prosecute Trump in Mueller probe

    Appeals court orders release of key memo Bill Barr used to justify refusal to prosecute Trump in Mueller probe

    Published by Raw Story By Travis Gettys The Department of Justice must release a full copy of a March 2019 memo supporting then-attorney general William Barr’s conclusion that Donald Trump should not be prosecuted in the …Read More »
Previous Post: « Anti-Gay NY Senators Introduce Bill to Void Recognition of Same-Sex Marriages from Elsewhere
Next Post: Rhode Island House Approves Civil Unions in 62-11 Vote »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • Biden signs $430 billion climate, healthcare and tax bill

    Biden signs $430 billion climate, healthcare and tax bill

  • Judge schedules Thursday hearing on motion to unseal Trump search warrant materials

    Judge schedules Thursday hearing on motion to unseal Trump search warrant materials

  • Dr. Oz Loses $5 Million Of GOP Campaign Funding In Pennsylvania As His Poll Numbers Continue To Plummet

    Dr. Oz Loses $5 Million Of GOP Campaign Funding In Pennsylvania As His Poll Numbers Continue To Plummet

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y’know

  • Gwyneth Paltrow is joining Shark Tank

    Gwyneth Paltrow is joining Shark Tank

  • ‘It’s Good To Be Loved!’ Ellen DeGeneres Celebrates Anniversary With Portia de Rossi After It’s Revealed She Won’t Be Invited To Ex Anne Heche’s Funeral

    ‘It’s Good To Be Loved!’ Ellen DeGeneres Celebrates Anniversary With Portia de Rossi After It’s Revealed She Won’t Be Invited To Ex Anne Heche’s Funeral

  • New Handwritten Notes & Letter Reveal Princess Diana Predicted She May Be Killed In A ‘Staged Car Accident’

    New Handwritten Notes & Letter Reveal Princess Diana Predicted She May Be Killed In A ‘Staged Car Accident’

RSS Partner Links

  • On the Rag, Vol. 721
  • Jon Gosselin Claims That Kate Gosselin Stole $100,000 From Their Kids In 2019; Kate Says That She Was Just Borrowing It, But Still Hasn’t Paid It Back
  • 100-Year-Old Twink + Madonna's PAPER Good + Dustin Lance Black Goes DYNASTY At Club + Megan Rapinoe Has Brittney Griner's Back + MORE! — 12-PACK
  • Caption Me
  • Page 1 Roundup (08/19)
  • Gender Mind Bender
  • OMG, here are some of the finalists in the 2022 USA Kids Mullet Championship

Most Recent

  • Monkeypox is spreading as college students return to campuses. Some universities are still preparing

    Monkeypox is spreading as college students return to campuses. Some universities are still preparing

  • Carl Nassib, First Openly Gay Active NFL Player, Returning To Tampa Bay Buccaneers

    Carl Nassib, First Openly Gay Active NFL Player, Returning To Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Dustin Lance Black ‘called police after nightclub altercation’

    Dustin Lance Black ‘called police after nightclub altercation’

  • Catching UP With Randy Rainbow Who Sums Up the Case Against Donald Jessica Trump: And More Recent Dispatches

    Catching UP With Randy Rainbow Who Sums Up the Case Against Donald Jessica Trump: And More Recent Dispatches

  • Appeals court orders release of key memo Bill Barr used to justify refusal to prosecute Trump in Mueller probe

    Appeals court orders release of key memo Bill Barr used to justify refusal to prosecute Trump in Mueller probe

  • Donald Trump privately admitting that Mehmet Oz will lose Senate race

    Donald Trump privately admitting that Mehmet Oz will lose Senate race

  • UN voices outrage at Saudi 34-year sentence over tweets

    UN voices outrage at Saudi 34-year sentence over tweets

  • Monkeypox Vaccine: “Where’s the Rest of Ours?” Local Health Officials to Feds

    Monkeypox Vaccine: “Where’s the Rest of Ours?” Local Health Officials to Feds

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2022 · Log in

×