Farewell Wallace

The Clarion Ledger reported on Saturday that Michael Wallace, President Bush’s nominee for a seat on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, is asking the president to withdraw his name from consideration. As you may recall, Alliance for Justice opposed Mr. Wallace’s nomination due in part to “his strong personal beliefs in far-right legal positions and his inability or unwillingness to prevent those beliefs from interfering with his professional obligations as a lawyer and public official.” Indeed the ABA rated Mr. Wallace unanimously unqualified (a very unusual occurrence) based on the prediction of his colleagues that, if confirmed to a judgeship, he would be unable to put aside his own personal beliefs and simply follow the law.

The president nominated Mr. Wallace over and over this year, but his nomination never made it out of the Judiciary Committee. It’s about time some of the Bush nominees start realizing that the American people want fair-minded, independent judges who are not driven by a political agenda -- and the Senate won't be rubber-stamping nominees who don’t fit that mold. Here's hoping that William Myers, Judge Terrence Boyle and William Haynes also get the hint.