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by Earth Justice
Thursday, Jul. 10, 2003 at 11:27 AM
Victor Wolski’s ideology makes him uniquely unqualified for the Court of Federal Claims where he would decide whether taxpayers must pay corporations to comply with health, safety, environmental, and other safeguards.
Extremist Judicial Nominee Passes on Largely Partisan Vote Earth Justice, July 9th, 2003 Washington DC-- The environmental protections enjoyed by all Americans were placed at risk today when the Senate voted narrowly (54-43) to confirm Victor Wolski to a seat on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (CFC). Not a single Senator who voted in favor of Mr. Wolski spoke on the Senate Floor, even after Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) spoke twice on the Floor today in opposition. Mr. Wolski, a self-described libertarian ideologue, is expected to use his position at the court to promote his position that the “property rights” of corporations outweigh the need for common-sense environmental, public health, and other fundamental safeguards. “Apparently, even supporters were embarrassed by Mr. Wolski’s extreme self-proclaimed libertarian ideology on the critical property rights issues he will decide on this important court,” said Glenn Sugameli, Senior Legislative Counsel at Earthjustice. “While this should not be a party issue, the lockstep party-line vote by Republican Senators to confirm Mr. Wolski demonstrates the need to block the most extreme nominees through filibusters. Unfortunately, the majority vote apparently reflects either ignorance of Mr. Wolski’s record or a willingness to ignore Senators’ constitutional advise-and-consent duty to exercise independent judgment on lifetime judicial nominees.” The CFC decides nearly all property rights “takings” challenges to national environmental and other protections. Mr. Wolski has made it clear that his position on property rights and “takings” claims will favor corporations at the expense of public health, taxpayers, and the environment. In 1999, Victor Wolski stated, “Every single job I’ve taken since college has been ideologically oriented, trying to further my principles.” Mr. Wolski’s longest-held position was for the industry-funded Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), where he brought sweeping property rights/takings challenges against environmental protections. “The fact that Victor Wolski is a self-proclaimed ideologue on the very issues he would decide as a judge makes him uniquely unqualified to decide fairly whether taxpayers must pay corporations to comply with health, safety, environmental, and other safeguards,” said Sugameli. “Unfortunately, Mr. Wolski’s rigid ideology is apparently the only reason he was nominated.” Contact Info: Glenn Sugameli, 202-667-4500 x 221 Cat Lazaroff, 202-667-4500 x 213 For more info: http://www.earthjustice.org/policy/judicial/nominees/index.html#wolski Original article: http://www.earthjustice.org/news/display.html?ID=625 The Pacific Legal Foundation Board of Trustees - March 2003 See full list: http://www.pacificlegal.org/misc/plfboard.pdf THOMAS C. LEPPERT -- Chairman and CEO of The Turner Corporation. With revenues approaching $6 billion, The Turner Corporation provides a complete range of construction and program management services in the non-residential building market and manages more than 1,000 projects every year. RONALD E. VAN BUSKIRK -- Firm General Counsel of Pillsbury Winthrop LLP, global law firm that "provides our clients with the strength of Silicon Valley and Wall Street" with a focus on financial institutions, technology, media and advertising, and energy; as well as mergers and acquisitions, insolvency and restructuring, litigation and intellectual property. Ronald specializes in the Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources, Global Energy, Land Use, and Litigation. WARNER C. LUSARDI -- Chairman of the Board of the Lusardi Construction Company, a full-service general contractor. Lusardi Construction has projects across the western United States, with awards approaching $200 million in all aspects of construction, including office, industrial, manufacturing, retail, hotel and recreational, high-end residential, research and development, and institutional projects. JAMES J. BUSBY -- President and Owner of the Security Owners Corporation in Martinez, California, a small homebuilder of high-quality homes. James is well respected by his subcontractors, and known as the "consummate volunteer member" at the Home Builders Association of Northern California.
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by Doug Kendall
Thursday, Jul. 10, 2003 at 3:01 PM
doug@communityrights.org 202-296-6889 x.3
CRC Press Releases April 28, 2003 President Bush has broken his promise to appoint judges who will interpret the law and not legislate from the bench. He promised the American people judges who would exercise restraint, but his nominees include judicial activists who would overturn environmental laws to further their ideological goals. For example: Victor Wolski, nominated to the Court of Federal Claims, is a self-professed ideologue who has spent much of his career working with an industry-funded legal group that specializes in challenging environmental legislation in court. As he told the National Journal in 1999, "every single job I've taken since college has been ideologically orientated, trying to further my principles." President Bush's choices for lifetime seats on the federal bench should be truly conservative and respect the nation's legislative decisions to protect America's natural resources. The environmental community has worked hard for 30 years to pass laws that safeguard the public's health, safety, and the environment. We don't need liberal judges; we need judges who will act with restraint, be faithful to precedent, and uphold these important protections. http://www.communityrights.org/Newsroom/crcPressReleases/Judges4-28-03.asp About the CRC ---------------------------------------------- Community Rights Counsel (CRC) is a not-for-profit, public interest law firm based in Washington DC that was formed in 1997 to assist communities in protecting their health and welfare by regulating permissible land uses. CRC provides strategic assistance to state and local government attorneys in defending land use laws. CRC has published a litigation handbook, which serves to assist state and local attorneys who are defending against takings claims. CRC gives presentations and conducts workshops, helps governments secure amicus support and, in critical cases, offers free representation to state and local governments. For a list of clients CRC has represented in state and federal courts around the country, click here. Community Rights Counsel is directed by a board consisting of 5 members: Eldon ("Took") H. Crowell, is a founding partner of Crowell & Moring, a Washington DC-based law firm employing more than 270 lawyers; Veronica Eady, a professor at Tufts University in the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning; Douglas T. Kendall, CRC's founder and Executive Director; Charles Lord, the founder and Executive Director of the Urban Ecology Institute at Boston College; James E. Ryan, a law professor at University of Virginia; and Henry Underhill, the Executive Director and General Counsel of the International Municipal Lawyers Association. CRC began as a project of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA)--a national association representing over 8,000 city and county managers from around the country--and was housed within ICMA's offices until July 1998. http://www.communityrights.org/AboutCRC/about.asp
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by foad
Thursday, Jul. 10, 2003 at 3:16 PM
"The environmental community has worked hard for 30 years to pass laws that safeguard the public's health, safety, and the environment."
The "enviromental community" is a bunch of fucking idiots who could care less about the environment or people but are there to impose upon all of us their militant extremist views. A lot of these nutsos believe that the "Earth is our Mother" and it's "fragile" and all this other crap. The "environmental community" is the home of the 60's socialist/communist movement whose only purpose is to destroy capitalism. If a bunch of these environmental laws (which became laws based upon purely reactionary and feel-good evidence to begin with) are rolled back to more reasonable measures, we'll all be better off, including the Earth itself.
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by anti-libertarian
Thursday, Jul. 10, 2003 at 3:33 PM
Spoken like a true libertarian-republican -- real sickos. Well I guess your happy now that your boy BUSH put an anti-environmentalist on the bench.
I can't wait for that good ol' LA smog to spread its poisonous cloud far into the republican hinterland of rural California.
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by foad
Thursday, Jul. 10, 2003 at 3:42 PM
No, I feel terrible. Our Mother the Earth may have to fart.
Piss off, tree hugger!
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by anti-libertarian
Thursday, Jul. 10, 2003 at 4:43 PM
I'd should rather wrap my arms 'round a tree, than to kiss an ass like BUSH as thee Opposition to Nomination of Victor J. Wolski ------------------------------------------------------ On March 25, 2002, a coalition of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, sent the following letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, ranking member on the Senate Judicary Committee: Dear Chairman Hatch and Ranking Member Leahy: ...Mr. Wolski is a self-described ideologue on the very property rights issues that he would decide as a CFC judge. He told the National Journal in 1999 that "every single job I've taken since college has been ideologically oriented, trying to further my principles," which he describes as a "libertarian" belief in "property rights" and "limited government."... ...For example, in Suitum v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Mr. Wolski argued that a much-heralded regional plan established to save Lake Tahoe from pollution worked a categorical "taking" of property even though affected landowners were permitted to sell their development rights, often for far more than their lot's purchase price... ...Had the Supreme Court accepted Mr. Wolski's argument, the plan to save Lake Tahoe would have failed, as would similar plans to preserve unique places such as New York's Pine Barrens, Florida's Everglades and New Jersey's Pinelands... ...Mr. Wolski's arguments would turn the federal courts into zoning boards of appeals, something even conservative judges and justices have been loath to do. See Sylvia Dev. Corp. v. Calvert County, 48 F.3d 810, 828 (4th Cir. 1995) (Niemeyer, J.) http://www.sierraclub.org/politics/judicial_nominees/wolski_letter.asp
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by debate coach
Friday, Jul. 11, 2003 at 7:08 AM
"The "enviromental community" is a bunch of fucking idiots who could care less about the environment or people but are there to impose upon all of us their militant extremist views." UNSUBSTANTIATED ALLEGATION
"A lot of these nutsos believe that the "Earth is our Mother" and it's "fragile" and all this other crap." UNSUBSTANTIATED ALLEGATION
"The "environmental community" is the home of the 60's socialist/communist movement whose only purpose is to destroy capitalism." UNSUBSTANTIATED ALLEGATION
"If a bunch of these environmental laws (which became laws based upon purely reactionary and feel-good evidence to begin with) are rolled back to more reasonable measures, we'll all be better off, including the Earth itself." UNSUBSTANTIATED ALLEGATION
For more on logic at your level, try reading "Logic for Dummies."
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