OpinionJournal has a piece by James Evers, a Mississippi radio station manager and brother of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, which points out that Judge Pickering has consistently tried to improve race relations in America. This is in contrast to what a many political lobbying groups have claimed. Given the brief overview of some of Pickering's decisions in this article, you have to wonder if the political lobbying groups (largely liberal) are more upset of his conservative views than any supposed racism. Take these excerpts from Pickering's decisions:
- "When an adverse action is taken affecting one covered by [civil rights] laws, there is a tendency on the part of the person affected to spontaneously react that discrimination caused the action. All of us have difficulty accepting the fact that we sometimes create our own problems."
- "the fact that a black employee is terminated does not automatically indicate discrimination. . . . This case has all the hallmarks of a case that is filed simply because an adverse employment decision was made in regard to a protected minority."
- And when confronted with legal precedent from higher courts which he didn't personally agree with, Pickering concluded he was "bound to follow the precedents established by prior controlling judicial decisions."
All these seem like hallmarks of someone who is guided by a systematic world view and a respect for the rule of law -- exactly what I would hope to see in an judge. But many American liberals shudder when they hear someone say "we sometimes create our own problems" -- but what of all the victims of poverty, and crime, and racism, and bed-wetting, and teasing, and on and on. If you think that people are helpless victims and that little Molly deserves a little slack at her job since she skinned her knee when she was 12, then Judge Pickering is someone to fear and fight against. But personally, I think Congress needs to get off its butt and confirm him.
