Frist Ready to Go Nuclear Over Priscilla Owen

The Washington Times is reporting that Sen. Bill Frist is ready to go nuclear, and the subject will be Judge Priscilla Owen of Texas, who yesterday "celebrated" the fourth anniversary of her nomination to the Federal bench:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist plans for Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen to be the judicial nomination on which he uses the "nuclear option" against Democratic filibusters later this month, according to Republicans familiar with his plans.

Justice Owen, first nominated to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals four years ago yesterday, has often been seen as the most likely nominee to be pushed though. And when Mr. Frist, Tennessee Republican, made his final offer to Democrats last month to avoid a showdown, he mentioned only one nominee: Justice Owen.

The Republican sources, both on and off Capitol Hill, say the choice of Justice Owen for the precedent-setting vote is based in part on the political calculation that she is a sure winner and, as one source said, "a great face" for this issue.
She has impeccable academic credentials, received the highest rating from the American Bar Association and is supported by both Republicans and Democrats who know her.

"She's very intellectually honest," said Judge Mary Sean O'Reilly, a Texas Democrat who has known Justice Owen for more than 10 years. "She has an uncommon ability. She just gets it completely."

After graduating near the top of her law school class, Justice Owen earned the highest score in the state on the December 1977 Texas bar exam. In 2000, Justice Owen won re-election to the Texas Supreme Court with 84 percent of the vote -- the highest of any justice running in the state that year.

But most appealing, Republicans say, is that the very cases for which Justice Owen has been most strenuously attacked are rulings that are overwhelmingly popular with American voters.

Democrats' primary line against Justice Owen has been several cases in which she argued that the teenagers involved were not mature enough to bypass a Texas law requiring them to notify a parent before having an abortion.

"Her record to date is not only predictive of a judge who is personally anti-choice, but one who is willing to rewrite the law in accordance with those beliefs," said a position statement released by NARAL Pro-Choice America. Senate Democrats then went after her, describing her as "far outside the mainstream."

Yet polls show overwhelming support for laws requiring minors to get permission from a parent before getting an abortion. That support is even higher for laws that only require notification.

The Dems are going to have a hard time explaining why it's a bad thing to require teenagers to inform their parents before receiving an abortion. These are the same people who insist that persons under 18 cannot be executed because they're not mature enough to understand the ramifications of their crimes. Why then should we assume that the same teenager is smart enough to understand the ramifications of an abortion?

I know if my daughter did something like that without my knowledge or consent (which, of course, she would never get), the adults involved would have good reason to fear for their safety. I'm sure that most parents would feel the same way, and there is very likely broad based support for Judge Owen's position on the issue.

Judge Janice Rogers Brown would be another excellent candidate for the "consitutional" option, and she is the nominee the Dem Senators fear the most. Why? Because she's a conservative African-American woman...kryptonite to Senate Dems. The Dems know that unless they can get 90%+ of the black vote, they have no hope of achieving and maintaining national power, and every conservative minority who is appointed to a significant position of power in our government further undermines the idea that minorities cannot succeed unless they support Democrats.

Either one of these candidates would be ideal for this nuclear test. Do the Senate Dems want to be seen as standing in the way of parents being parents to their teenagers, or of qualified minority candidates rising to positions of power and authority in government? We'll see just how stupid they are.