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Justice Department Holding Program to Commemorate National Hispanic Heritage Month
Aired September 25, 2002 - 05:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Justice Department is going to hold a program to commemorate National Hispanic Heritage Month today. Attorney General John Ashcroft is expected to push again for the confirmation of Washington lawyer Miguel Estrada to the federal appeals court. A confirmation hearing is set for tomorrow.
CNN'S Jonathan Karl looks at why there's been a hold up for Estrada.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Touted by his allies as a future Supreme Court justice, 40-year-old Miguel Estrada is the Republican poster child in the battle over judicial nominations.
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: And Miguel Estrada's nomination is a testament to his talent, his perseverance and his intelligence. He is superbly qualified.
KARL: Republicans say Estrada has a perfect resume. He was born in Honduras. After graduating high school, he emigrated to the U.S. at age 17. He graduated with top honors from Harvard Law School, where he served and the "Law Review." He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and served as an assistant solicitor general for both the elder President Bush and President Clinton, arguing 15 cases before the Supreme Court.
Currently in private practice, he also co-authored the Bush campaign's brief to the high court in the Florida recount case.
Democrats acknowledge Estrada's credentials. It's his political views they are concerned about.
RALPH NEAS, PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY: He seems to be the darling of the right. We're picking that up everywhere, that he might be the Latino Clarence Thomas, someone who has a hard right judicial philosophy which would undermine the key principles to protect our civil and constitutional rights.
KARL: That's a view that has been echoed by key Judiciary Committee Democrats as the Estrada nomination has languished without a hearing for a full year.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: He is way out of the mainstream. He is in the mold of Scalia and Thomas. KARL: But if Estrada holds controversial views, he does not appear to have put them in writing. Frustrated Democrats call him a stealth nominee, who will be hard to beat because he doesn't have a paper trail. He also has some surprising allies.
RON KLAIN, FORMER ADVISER TO AL GORE: Well, I think Miguel personally and politically is very conservative. I think as a judge, he would apply the legal precedents in an appropriate way and be a good court of appeals judge.
KARL: Ron Klain, who was Al Gore's top legal advisor and a key Democratic figure during the Florida recount, wrote a private letter to Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, calling Estrada "a person of outstanding character and tremendous intellect."
(on camera): The stakes are especially high because Estrada is nominated to what many believe is the second most powerful court in the nation, a court where three of the nine current members of the Supreme Court once served.
Jonathan Karl, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Hispanic Heritage Month>
Aired September 25, 2002 - 05:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Justice Department is going to hold a program to commemorate National Hispanic Heritage Month today. Attorney General John Ashcroft is expected to push again for the confirmation of Washington lawyer Miguel Estrada to the federal appeals court. A confirmation hearing is set for tomorrow.
CNN'S Jonathan Karl looks at why there's been a hold up for Estrada.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Touted by his allies as a future Supreme Court justice, 40-year-old Miguel Estrada is the Republican poster child in the battle over judicial nominations.
JOHN ASHCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: And Miguel Estrada's nomination is a testament to his talent, his perseverance and his intelligence. He is superbly qualified.
KARL: Republicans say Estrada has a perfect resume. He was born in Honduras. After graduating high school, he emigrated to the U.S. at age 17. He graduated with top honors from Harvard Law School, where he served and the "Law Review." He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and served as an assistant solicitor general for both the elder President Bush and President Clinton, arguing 15 cases before the Supreme Court.
Currently in private practice, he also co-authored the Bush campaign's brief to the high court in the Florida recount case.
Democrats acknowledge Estrada's credentials. It's his political views they are concerned about.
RALPH NEAS, PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY: He seems to be the darling of the right. We're picking that up everywhere, that he might be the Latino Clarence Thomas, someone who has a hard right judicial philosophy which would undermine the key principles to protect our civil and constitutional rights.
KARL: That's a view that has been echoed by key Judiciary Committee Democrats as the Estrada nomination has languished without a hearing for a full year.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: He is way out of the mainstream. He is in the mold of Scalia and Thomas. KARL: But if Estrada holds controversial views, he does not appear to have put them in writing. Frustrated Democrats call him a stealth nominee, who will be hard to beat because he doesn't have a paper trail. He also has some surprising allies.
RON KLAIN, FORMER ADVISER TO AL GORE: Well, I think Miguel personally and politically is very conservative. I think as a judge, he would apply the legal precedents in an appropriate way and be a good court of appeals judge.
KARL: Ron Klain, who was Al Gore's top legal advisor and a key Democratic figure during the Florida recount, wrote a private letter to Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, calling Estrada "a person of outstanding character and tremendous intellect."
(on camera): The stakes are especially high because Estrada is nominated to what many believe is the second most powerful court in the nation, a court where three of the nine current members of the Supreme Court once served.
Jonathan Karl, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Hispanic Heritage Month>
