To all the conservatives out there: you NEED to read this. I just got the following in a newsletter from the folks at NewsMax:
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Giuliani-Appointed Judges Lean to the Left
White House hopeful Rudolph Giuliani has been assuring conservatives that as president he would appoint “strict constructionalists” to the federal bench.
“I would want judges who are strict constructionalists because I am,” he told South Carolina Republicans in January. “Those are the kinds of justices I would appoint – Scalia, Alito, and Roberts.”
But some observers are pointing out that in his eight years as New York City mayor, Giuliani’s judicial appointees were for the most part anything but conservative.
A review by The Politico found that of the 75 judges Giuliani appointed to three of New York State’s lower courts, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by more than 8-to-1.
“Rudy’s judges were mostly liberal,” Connie Mackey, vice president of FRC Action, an arm of the conservative Family Research Council, told the Times.
“Any pro-lifer who believes they are going to get the kind of judge out of Rudy Giuliani that we see in either Roberts or Alito is probably going to be disappointed.”
Indeed, Giuliani’s record of appointments won plaudits from Kelli Conlin, head of NARAL Pro-Choice New York, the state’s leading abortion-rights group.
However, Giuliani’s judicial appointments won good reviews in New York legal circles for “being what conservatives sometimes say they want: competent lawyers selected with no regard to ‘litmus tests’ on hot-button social issues,” The Politico reports.
New York City’s mayor appoints judges to the criminal court, which hears misdemeanor cases; the family court; and civil court, where they hear claims of less than $25,000.
New York University law professor Stephen Gillers told the Times that it would be “nonsense” to cite municipal judges, who deal with misdemeanors and small claims, as indications of how Giuliani might approach appointments to the Supreme Court.
Rudy, They Hardly Know Ya
Republicans believe they are quite familiar with presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani, but a surprising number are actually clueless as to his stances on key issues.
When a Newsweek poll asked Republicans to indicate how much they know about the former New York City mayor and his positions, 26 percent said “a lot” and 39 percent said “some.” Only 8 percent said “nothing.”
But the respondents were also asked: “On the issue of abortion, do you know if Giuliani is pro-choice?” The result: 54 percent said they didn’t know, and another 12 percent said he was pro-life; only 34 percent correctly stated that he is pro-choice.
When asked if Giuliani supports an amendment to ban same-sex marriage, 76 percent didn’t know and 8 percent said he supports it; just 16 percent correctly said he opposes it.
And when asked “Is Giuliani in favor of new restrictions on gun ownership,” 73 percent of those polled didn’t know; 10 percent said he opposes it; and 17 percent correctly said he favors new restrictions.
Conservative Standards 