Thursday, May 11, 2006

Bush Nominee Rated 'Unqualified' by ABA

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The American Bar Association rated one of President Bush's judicial nominees ''not qualified'' Wednesday, prompting a call from a liberal group for the president to withdraw the Mississippi lawyer's nomination.

A panel of the nation's largest lawyers group unanimously agreed that Michael Wallace, nominated for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, should receive its lowest rating.

Wallace, 54, was a former law clerk to Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and special counsel to then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi during the impeachment trial of President Clinton in 1999.

The White House immediately disagreed with the ABA and rejected its rating....

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''Wallace is the first appeals court nominee in 25 years to receive an unanimous 'not qualified' rating from the ABA. The president should immediately withdraw his nomination,'' said Ralph Neas, president of the liberal group People For the American Way....

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