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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (121258)	1/8/2001 9:10:42 AM
From: H-Man	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

I dont know the timing either, but at some point after the nomination, 70% of the duely elected county sheriffs & police chiefs in MO, signed a petition against the nomination. (because of the Johnson case, which btw, White was the LONE dissenter) That would be something he could not ignore. here is the statement ... Missouri Police Chiefs Group Opposes White as Federal Judge Law Enforcement Federation Alerts Missouri Senators WASHINGTON – The Missouri Federation of Police Chiefs, representing law enforcement in more than 100 communities, is protesting the nomination of Missouri Supreme Court Judge Ronnie White to the federal bench. Judge White has been nominated by the President to be a federal trial judge in Missouri’s Eastern District. A member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Ashcroft voted against the nomination, citing Judge White’s record of opposition to capital punishment. Ashcroft said: “Judge White is the most anti-death penalty judge on the Missouri Supreme Court. He has voted against the death penalty more often than any other judge. Further, he has dissented more often than any other judge in capital cases, and has been the judge most likely to dissent alone. I share the high level of concern voiced by Missouri law enforcement officers.” In the letter to Senators Ashcroft and Christopher Bond, MFPC Vice President Bryan Kunze, Police Chief of Fayette, specifically identifies White’s dissent in the death penalty case of convicted cop-killer James Johnson. When the Missouri Supreme Court considered Johnson’s appeal of his death penalty conviction, only Judge White voted to reverse the sentence and grant a new trial. Johnson was convicted of capital murder in the 1991 killings of Pam Jones, the wife of Moniteau County Sheriff Kenny Jones; Cooper County Sheriff Charles Smith; Deputy Sheriff Les Roark of Moniteau County; and Deputy Sheriff Sandra Wilson of Miller County (State v. Johnson 968 SW 2d 123). In the MFPC letter to Ashcroft and Bond, Chief Kunze said, “After reading Sheriff Kenny Jones’ letter and seeing Judge White’s record, we were absolutely shocked that someone like this would even be nominated to such an important position. We want to go on record with your offices as being OPPOSED to his nomination and hope you will vote against him.” In a letter to Missouri Sheriffs, Moniteau County Sheriff Kenny Jones said of Judge White’s anti-death penalty record: “The Johnson case isn’t the only anti-death penalty ruling by Judge White. He has voted against capital punishment more than any other judge on the court. I believe there is a pattern here. To me, Ronnie White is clearly the wrong person to entrust with the tremendous power of a federal judge who serves for life.” The Missouri Sheriffs Association has delivered to the Senators a petition signed by 75 Missouri Sheriffs protesting White’s dissent in the Johnson case. In their petition, the Sheriffs asked the Missouri Senators to make the Johnson case a factor in Senate consideration of White’s nomination.

To: Neocon who wrote (121258)	1/8/2001 10:31:34 AM
From: WTSherman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769667

<I don't know, perhaps you are right. I can imagine circumstances where issues would come out late, for example, if the staff were swamped and did sloppy research, assuming that the nominee were a slam dunk anyway.< I could buy that if White hadn't been the Chief Justice of the Mo. Supreme Court and Ashcroft hadn't been AG and Gov. of Mo. He surely knew White and his work well. Pretty clearly an ambush. Remember, this happened at a time that Ashcroft was behind in the polls in his race against Carnahan and Carnahan had appointed White. Ashcroft was looking for some sort of weapon to damage Carnahan with and wanted to label him as a "liberal", "left-winger". Which in Carnahan's case wasn't easy, he was a pretty conservative guy in most ways. So, Ashcroft decided that if he could label White as "pro-criminal" and then link him to Carnahan, as "Carnahan's guy" it would be a good wedge against a very popular guy who looked like he was going to take Ashcroft's seat away. Looks pretty cynical to me...