Former bar president wins
hard fought confirmation to U.S. bench

by NANCY McCARTHY
Staff Writer

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Just weeks before she takes the bench, Morrow, the only woman president of the State Bar of California, declines to comment on the ordeal, limiting her remarks to thank you's for her supporters. Nor would she comment about speculation that Chief Justice William Rehnquist's criticism of the Senate's lack of action on judicial nominees may have moved her nomination forward.

"I am extremely pleased that this process has come to a successful conclusion," Morrow said. "I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Sen. (Barbara) Boxer and to the administration for their strong and unwavering support for the past two-and-a-half years."

Sam Chapman, Boxer's chief of staff, credited his boss' perseverance with finally moving the matter to a floor vote. He said Boxer, who sponsored Morrow's nomination, won a commitment from Sen. Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., last fall that a vote would be taken when Congress reconvened this year.

"There was no one single key action that caused the vote to happen," Chapman said. "It was a matter of the senator's persistence and personal conversations with colleagues and making the case that Margaret Morrow is an outstanding attorney with an outstanding background and exactly the kind of person who should be a federal judge. All the issues raised about her were refuted."

He added that the support of judiciary committee chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, also was a key element in pushing Morrow's nomination to a vote.

Opposition to the appointment was organized by the Judicial Selection Monitoring Project, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative group that has been leading the campaign against President Clinton's judicial nominees.

Based on their interpretation of snippets from her past writings, opponents charged that Morrow would be a "judicial activist" who would use the law to bring about social change.

But Morrow won widespread support from both Democrats and Republicans, including Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, Robert C. Bonner, former head of the Drug Enforcement Agency under President Bush, Judge Stephen S. Trott, a Reagan appointee to the U.S. Court of Appeals, and several state judges appointed by Republican governors.

Four other federal judges and a court of claims judge have won Senate approval in the weeks following Rehnquist's scolding delivered in his annual report on the judiciary.

Chapman said the chief justice's remarks were "helpful in improving the climate for confirmation and in helping the public, the average person, to realize what the problem is, the problem being delayed confirmations and the resulting lack of judges and backlog in the courts."

But he added that it remains to be seen how Rehnquist's comments affect future votes.

Morrow was confirmed by a vote of 67-28 a week after the Senate confirmed former Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carlos Moreno to the Central District.

A partner with Arnold & Porter, Morrow, 47, was president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association before serving as president of the State Bar. She is an honors graduate of Harvard Law School and has been a civil litigator for more than 20 years.

Nominated to the federal bench by Clinton in May 1996, Morrow's first confirmation hearing before the judiciary committee was held a month later. She was approved unanimously, but the Senate adjourned in October without voting.

She was renominated in January 1997, underwent a second committee hearing in March, and was voted out of committee in June.

"Margaret Morrow is the epitome of mainstream," said Boxer. "The legal community recognizes her reputation as a moderate consensus-builder, who respects and embraces the rule of law."

Among those voting for Morrow last month were Hatch and the judiciary committee's ranking Democrat, Sen. Patrick Leahy of New York.

Hatch criticized his Republican colleagues for holding up Morrow's nomination.

"A compelling case cannot be made against her. . . . Ms. Morrow's legal career speaks for itself. She will be an asset to the federal bench," the Utah senator said.

[CALBAR JOURNAL]