The Zeroth Amendment: The Basis of All "Modern" Conservative Jurisprudence

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9. Don't leave out this week's anti-union decison

Back in 2005, when the Democrats were opposing some of Bush's most extreme judicial nominations, I did a little digging to find out exactly what was so objectionable about them. What I discovered was not only problematic racial and sexual biases but also a persistent pattern of opposition to the rights of workers, consumers, prisoners, and plaintiffs in general.

For example, one description of Judge Janice Rogers Brown referred to her "persistent and disturbing hostility to affirmative action, civil rights, the rights of people with disabilities, workers' rights, and criminal rights." (Brown was confirmed as part of the Gang of 14 deal and currently sits on the DC Court of Appeals.)

A description of Judge Priscilla Owen said that "this Texas Supreme Court justice has consistently demonstrated hostility toward anti-discrimination lawsuits, the protection of reproductive rights, and of plaintiffs’ rights. Judge Owen’s record reveals her to be an activist judge who has routinely dissented on rulings regarding the rights of employees, including the right to be free from invidious discrimination." (The Gang of 14 deal put Owen on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and she was mentioned during the Bush years as a possible Supreme Court nominee.)

These are the people who are likely to wind up on the Supreme Court if a future Republican president has any say in the matter -- and they're overwhelmingly guided by an anti-ordinary people mentality.