hypocrisy in action
Pickering a Fight - Republicans celebrate a judge who's easy on black drug offenders. By Emily Bazelon: "If you like farce, the upcoming judicial confirmation hearing for Judge Charles W. Pickering should make for some satisfying C-SPAN. The Mississippi federal judge is the Bush administration's nominee to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals*. To defend him against charges of racial insensitivity, Republicans are marketing Pickering's record of giving lenient sentences to black drug offenders. It's nice to see conservative lawmakers deferring to a judge's belief that some criminals deserve a second chance. Except these are the same lawmakers who spent their last term chipping away at the power of federal judges to reduce criminal sentences."