| 00:00:011 min. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
The hearing will resume. The first witness on our next panel, Panel 5, is Mr. Fred Gray, senior partner at Gray, Langford, Sapp, McGowan,... |
| 00:01:293 sec. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. |
| 00:01:3219 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
By way of explanation, the judges talked longer yesterday, and I thought it appropriate not to interrupt them, and I want to give the extra... |
| 00:01:519 min. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And to my Senator, Senator Sessions, who represents us well in the Senate, to the other members of the... |
| 00:11:1623 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Thank you, Mr. Gray, and thank you for your remarkable service on civil rights and voting rights. Your listing of cases and listing of clients... |
| 00:11:391 sec. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. |
| 00:11:401 min. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
We turn now to Ms. Kate Michelman, who for 18 years, up until 2004, was president of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action... |
| 00:12:412 sec. |
Michelman, Kate - President
We miss you. |
| 00:12:431 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
What is that? |
| 00:12:442 sec. |
Michelman, Kate - President
I said we miss you over there. |
| 00:12:463 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Well, they don’t have a squash court. [Laughter.] |
| 00:12:492 sec. |
Michelman, Kate - President
I know that was a big mistake on their part. |
| 00:12:519 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
I had to change health clubs except for the Senate gym, where I see Senator Kennedy. [Laughter.] What is your time— |
| 00:13:003 sec. |
Kennedy, Edward "Ted" M. - U.S. Senator, [D] Massachusetts
Can we take you up on that? |
| 00:13:034 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
We are going to put your time at 10 minutes, Ms. Michelman, and we look forward to your testimony. STATEMENT OF KATE MICHELMAN, FORMER PRESIDENT,... |
| 00:13:077 min. |
Michelman, Kate - President
Thank you, Senator. Mr. Chairman, Senator Leahy, who is not here, and members of the Committee, it is my pleasure to talk with you today,... |
| 00:20:2845 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Thank you very much, Ms. Michelman. Our next witness is Professor Ronald Sullivan, Associate Clinical Professor of Law at Yale. He... |
| 00:21:139 min. |
Sullivan, Ronald - Attorney
Thank you very much, Senator Specter, and Senator Leahy in his absence, members of the Committee. Thank you for inviting me to testify at... |
| 00:30:5259 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Thank you very much, Professor Sullivan. We now turn to Professor Amanda Frost, Assistant Professor of Law at American University’s Washington... |
| 00:31:515 min. |
Frost, Amanda - Associate Professor
Thank you. Mr. Chairman, Senator Leahy and members of the Committee, I feel honored to have the opportunity to testify at these important... |
| 00:37:3344 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Thank you very much, Professor Frost. We now turn to Professor John Flym, professor of law at Northwestern. He has taught Professional Responsibility... |
| 00:38:179 min. |
Flym, John G. S. - Professor
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Leahy, members of the Committee. I am honored to be before you today. I would like to make one correction,... |
| 00:48:1438 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Thank you very much, Professor Flym. Mr. Gray, beginning my 5 minutes of questioning with the issue of voting rights, which you have testified... |
| 00:48:521 min. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
Well, I am still troubled by the fact. I am glad to hear that. And if what that means is that if he is confirmed he will be the type of... |
| 00:49:591 min. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Ms. Michelman, on the Roe issue, which is a matter of enormous importance, I started my questioning of Judge Alito with that subject, as... |
| 00:51:241 min. |
Michelman, Kate - President
Well, Senator, it is true that the President won the election and he has the right to nominate Justices who share his values and his views.... |
| 00:53:0528 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
I want to ask you one more question, and my time is almost up. You have commented about the other issues, philosophical—you have enumerated... |
| 00:53:3335 sec. |
Michelman, Kate - President
I don’t consider the right to privacy, personal privacy, the right to dignity and autonomy and control over one’s life as a single issue.... |
| 00:54:081 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Well, thank you very much for your testimony, Ms. Michelman— |
| 00:54:091 sec. |
Michelman, Kate - President
You are welcome. |
| 00:54:1016 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
And for your service. You have been in the forefront of this issue for a long time, and I know how deeply you feel about it. And I thank... |
| 00:54:2621 sec. |
Leahy, Patrick J. - U.S. Senator, [D] Vermont
I would concur with that. I thought of that prior to your testimony when reading the article about you yesterday in the Post, a story I... |
| 00:54:471 sec. |
Michelman, Kate - President
Thank you. |
| 00:54:482 min. |
Leahy, Patrick J. - U.S. Senator, [D] Vermont
But you are absolutely right that there is an awesome responsibility in the Senate in the choice, first with the 18 of us here, who are... |
| 00:57:0959 sec. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
The difference is then, prior to these decisions, and even prior to Brown v. Board of Education, and prior to Gomillion v. Lightfoot and... |
| 00:58:087 sec. |
Leahy, Patrick J. - U.S. Senator, [D] Vermont
When you started this fight, did you very believe you would see an African-American mayor, an African-American sheriff in some of— |
| 00:58:1511 sec. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
No, sir. And the first one since Reconstruction was Lucius Amerson in my county. I got him elected, but I couldn’t get elected to the State... |
| 00:58:2635 sec. |
Leahy, Patrick J. - U.S. Senator, [D] Vermont
That is why I raised that. You anticipated what I was raising. Ms. Michelman, you know about the job application of Judge Alito to... |
| 00:59:011 min. |
Michelman, Kate - President
No, I haven’t. In fact, I don’t think there is— again, if you go back to his memo you are referencing, the work he did in the Justice Department,... |
| 01:00:58 |
Leahy, Patrick J. - U.S. Senator, [D] Vermont
My time is up. |
| 01:00:581 sec. |
Michelman, Kate - President
Thank you. |
| 01:00:5927 sec. |
Leahy, Patrick J. - U.S. Senator, [D] Vermont
I just want to thank all five of you for being here. I know that it is not easy to come and very publicly oppose VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:43... |
| 01:01:261 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Thank you, Senator Leahy. Senator Hatch? |
| 01:01:273 sec. |
Hatch, Orrin - U.S. Senator, [R] Utah
I think I will reserve my time, Mr. Chairman. |
| 01:01:301 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Senator Kennedy? |
| 01:01:3150 sec. |
Kennedy, Edward "Ted" M. - U.S. Senator, [D] Massachusetts
Thank you. Five minutes, a number of areas to cover. First, I thank all of you for being here. And, Dr. Gray, in the application, the... |
| 01:02:219 sec. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
We would be a different Nation, and it would all appear to be whites and no persons of color would have very little if any involvement in... |
| 01:02:3027 sec. |
Kennedy, Edward "Ted" M. - U.S. Senator, [D] Massachusetts
Professor Sullivan, I want to ask you about the impact of Judge Alito on average Americans. This is something we have heard from the power... |
| 01:02:572 sec. |
Sullivan, Ronald - Attorney
Yes, that is correct. |
| 01:02:598 sec. |
Kennedy, Edward "Ted" M. - U.S. Senator, [D] Massachusetts
The idea that sometimes innocent people are caught up on these police searches and bring Fourth Amendment charges. |
| 01:03:071 min. |
Sullivan, Ronald - Attorney
Yes. In Groody, for example, which we have talked about a lot, it was a civil damages case. Congress has provided a remedy for our citizens... |
| 01:04:1927 sec. |
Kennedy, Edward "Ted" M. - U.S. Senator, [D] Massachusetts
Professor Flym, just on this issue of recusal, is it your understanding that under the existing code of conduct for VerDate 0ct 09 2002... |
| 01:04:4621 sec. |
Flym, John G. S. - Professor
Absolutely, Senator. But in addition to the Code of Judicial Conduct that is frequently understood in terms of ethical rules, the statute... |
| 01:05:075 sec. |
Kennedy, Edward "Ted" M. - U.S. Senator, [D] Massachusetts
Ms. Michelman, I want to first of all thank you. That was a splendid performance on Meet the Press. |
| 01:05:125 sec. |
Michelman, Kate - President
Thank you. |
| 01:05:1753 sec. |
Kennedy, Edward "Ted" M. - U.S. Senator, [D] Massachusetts
In response to the questions, just to pick up on the Chairman’s thought where you talked about the dignity of women. You touched on it here... |
| 01:06:101 min. |
Michelman, Kate - President
Thank you, Senator, also for your generous comment about my Meet the Press performance. We should not forget that women have had a long... |
| 01:07:532 sec. |
Kennedy, Edward "Ted" M. - U.S. Senator, [D] Massachusetts
Thank you. My time is up. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. |
| 01:07:5535 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Thank you, Senator Kennedy. Without objection, there will be placed in the record a large group of letters relevant to the issue, and I... |
| 01:08:3021 sec. |
Hatch, Orrin - U.S. Senator, [R] Utah
Let me just greet all of you and thank you for being here. Dr. Gray, I have tremendous respect for you. You have led a lot of fights in... |
| 01:08:51 |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
Thank you, Senator. |
| 01:08:513 sec. |
Hatch, Orrin - U.S. Senator, [R] Utah
Ms. Michelman, it is always nice to see you. |
| 01:08:542 sec. |
Michelman, Kate - President
Good to see you too. |
| 01:08:5626 sec. |
Hatch, Orrin - U.S. Senator, [R] Utah
As you know, I have respect for other points of view as well. Mr. Sullivan, nice to get acquainted with you. Ms. Frost, with you. Mr.... |
| 01:09:223 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Thank you, Senator Hatch. Senator Sessions? |
| 01:09:251 min. |
Sessions, Jefferson "Jeff" - U.S. Senator, [R] Alabama
Mr. Gray, it is a delight to have you here. You are certainly one of Alabama’s most distinguished citizens. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Gray just... |
| 01:10:306 sec. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
Thank you very much, Senator, and I even talk about the judgeship which was not to be in that book too. |
| 01:10:362 sec. |
Sessions, Jefferson "Jeff" - U.S. Senator, [R] Alabama
Well, we have both been there, have we not? [Laughter.] |
| 01:10:384 sec. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
Yes, sir. |
| 01:10:423 sec. |
Sessions, Jefferson "Jeff" - U.S. Senator, [R] Alabama
We may have a little more jaundiced eye than some around here about this process. |
| 01:10:452 sec. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
That is correct. |
| 01:10:4710 sec. |
Sessions, Jefferson "Jeff" - U.S. Senator, [R] Alabama
When you came out of college, I notice in your book you mention several times you had a commitment in the ’50s, ‘‘destroying everything... |
| 01:10:5713 sec. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
That was the motivating factor, Senator, as to why I became a lawyer, and I wish this nominee had that kind of commitment. If so, I would... |
| 01:11:1057 sec. |
Sessions, Jefferson "Jeff" - U.S. Senator, [R] Alabama
But Gomillion v. Lightfoot was—I mean you had the Vivian Malone case at the University of Alabama, you were involved in that, the syphilis... |
| 01:12:071 min. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
Yes, sir, that is exactly the thing, and I illustrated it by having a map drawn to scale of the old city limits and the new city limits,... |
| 01:13:1853 sec. |
Sessions, Jefferson "Jeff" - U.S. Senator, [R] Alabama
I would point out a couple of things. First, it took a reversal of precedent to make this happen, so sometimes bad precedent ought not to... |
| 01:14:1115 sec. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
I want to thank you, Senator, and I want to publicly thank you for doing what you have done in helping the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights... |
| 01:14:263 sec. |
Sessions, Jefferson "Jeff" - U.S. Senator, [R] Alabama
And we can thank Chairman Specter for helping us some on that. |
| 01:14:293 sec. |
Gray, Fred - Attorney
Thank you very much. |
| 01:14:32 |
Sessions, Jefferson "Jeff" - U.S. Senator, [R] Alabama
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. |
| 01:14:326 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
You were not going to conclude, Senator Sessions, without saying why you can thank Senator Specter. |
| 01:14:388 sec. |
Sessions, Jefferson "Jeff" - U.S. Senator, [R] Alabama
For helping us with the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Center. Thank you, sir. [Laughter.] |
| 01:14:461 sec. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Senator Coburn. VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:43 Feb 24, 2006 Jkt 025429 PO 00000 Frm 00759 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\25429T.004 SJUD4 PsN:... |
| 01:14:473 sec. |
Sessions, Jefferson "Jeff" - U.S. Senator, [R] Alabama
You have always been accommodating. |
| 01:14:5032 sec. |
Coburn, Thomas "Tom" A. M.D. - U.S. Senator, [R] Oklahoma
Senator, I will defer. There is obviously a very distinguished panel before us, each a leader in their own way, respected for their advocacy... |
| 01:15:223 min. |
Specter, Arlen - U.S. Senator, [R] Pennsylvania
Thank you very much, Senator Coburn. Thank you, Mr. Gray and Ms. Michelman, Professor Sullivan, Professor Frost, Professor Flym. We will... |