President Bush has nominated five conservative GOP supporters as Appeals Court judges.
Bush made the announcement Wednesday during a fundraiser for fellow Republican Bob Corker who faces Democrat Harold Ford Jr. in a Senate race.
According to a White House statement, Bush nominated Michael Brunson Wallace of Mississippi to the 5th Circuit in New Orleans; William Gerry Myers III and Norman Randy Smith, both of Idaho, for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco; Terrence Boyle of North Carolina and William James Haynes II of Virginia to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.
But Democrats were quick to complain about the appointments, calling them divisive. Jim Manley, a spokesman for Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid of Nevada, told the Associated Press that the nominations were sure to spark more confrontations between the two parties.
Perhaps most under fire is Judge Boyle who is accused of issuing rulings involving people whose companies his family held stock. Boyle admitted that his aides, screen cases for conflicts of interest, missed the appearance of it in these cases.
Also under fire is Haynes who told a Senate panel that he was glad the Justice Department reversed an opinion that was critical of the treatment of accused terrorist prisoners that cleared the way for their torture at Guantanamo Bay.
