Black Conservatives Decry Discrimination… Against Catholics

Project 21 is applauding the recess appointment of Bill Pryor. Part of the group’s press release:

After a vote on his nomination was blocked by obstructionists in the U.S. Senate for over ten months, President George W. Bush today installed Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor as a judge on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals through a recess appointment. While members of the African-American leadership network Project 21 regret the President was forced to resort to extraordinary measures to seat Pryor, it is hoped that the move will invigorate the debate over the constitutionality and collegiality of the liberal obstruction of Bush’s appeals court nominees.

“I applaud the President’s recess appointment of William Pryor and his commitment to appoint constructionist jurists to the courts,” said Project 21 member Mychal Massie. “However, I believe a more unambiguous indication of his resolve would be for him to show the same tenacity for those still-languishing judicial nominees that was shown in his relentless determination in passing of the Medicare/prescription drug bill last year.”

A president has the power to install nominees when the Senate is not in session, bypassing the need for Senate confirmation and the anti-religious bias shown toward him by some senators. The appointment is only temporary. A recess appointee only serves through the remainder of the congressional term. In the case of Pryor, he will need to be reappointed next January.

Last November, Project 21 released a New Visions Commentary by Matthew Craig about the obstruction of the Pryor nomination. Craig noted: “As Alabama’s chief law enforcement official, Pryor has vehemently fought discrimination… Ironically, Pryor himself is now a victim of discrimination. Instead of bias against his skin color or ethnicity, liberal U.S. senators are trying to deny Pryor a federal appeals court appointment largely due to his strong Catholic beliefs.”



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