SENATOR ORRIN G. HATCH (R-UT) SAYS WITHDRAWAL “THE RIGHT THING TO DO,” CITING THE STRONG, BIPARTISAN OPPOSITION FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT GROUPS FOR U.S. DISTRICT COURT

March 17, 1998 - Judge Frederica Massiah-Jackson yesterday withdrew her nomination for the U.S. District Court bench, just one day before the Senate was expected to reject her nomination.  Senate opposition had grown so strong, Judge Massiah-Jackson risked becoming the first of President Clinton’s judicial nominees to be rejected.

As reported to you earlier, NAPO wrote Senators Orrin G. Hatch and Patrick J. Leahy, the Chairman and ranking Democrat of the Senate Judiciary Committee before her hearing in February to express our fervent belief that Judge Massiah-Jackson was not qualified for a lifetime appointment as a Federal judge.  Judge Massiah-Jackson has a proven record of being lenient on criminals, having a bias against the police, using expletives in court and being insensitive to the victims of crime.

In response to criticisms from NAPO, other police organizations, and district attorneys, the Judiciary Committee held a rare second hearing last week to give Judge Massiah-Jackson a chance to address those criticisms.  However, her answers failed to defend her past record as a state judge.  Yesterday, while the Senate held further debate, NAPO hand delivered a letter to every U.S. Senator prior to the Senate’s scheduled vote today.  Later that afternoon, the nomination was formally withdrawn by President Clinton at Judge Massiah-Jackson’s request.

The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) was quoted in the Washington Post with the following response to her withdrawal, “Given the strong, bipartisan opposition from law enforcement groups, her demonstrated leniency in sentencing convicted criminals and the Judiciary Committee’s concerns about her lack of candor throughout the nomination process, I believe that withdrawing the nomination is the right thing to do.”

NAPO still has grave concerns regarding the current level of vacant federal judgeships.  According to Senate Judiciary Committee figures, there are currently 83 vacancies in the federal judiciary and 42 nominations pending before the Senate.  It is imperative that we fill these vacancies as soon as possible; however, the Senate must be presented with qualified nominees.  Law enforcement colleagues asked for NAPO’s help in gaining support for judicial nominee Ms. Marsha Berzon to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (covering most of the Western United States).  After having contacted the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), NAPO is expressing our support for the nominee who we believe will be fair, impartial and open-minded to law enforcement.  If NAPO members would like to seek NAPO’s support for area nominees, please contact the NAPO office.

The National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) is a coalition of police unions and associations from across the United States that serves in Washington, DC to advance the interests of America’s law enforcement officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education.  Founded in 1978, NAPO now represents more than 4,000 police unions and associations, 250,000 sworn law enforcement officers, 3,000 retired officers and more than 100,000 citizens who share a common dedication to fair and effective crime control and law enforcement.