ISAKSON SIGNS "FAIR JUDICIARY OATH"

June 23, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:Audrey Mullen(202) 861-5677

(WASHINGTON, DC) Rep. Johnny Isakson, Republican candidate for United States Senate in Georgia, has signed the "Fair Judiciary Oath." The Oath calls for a "fair and simple up-or-down vote for all nominees duly nominated by the President of the United States and reported favorably out of the Senate Judiciary Committee."

"One of the most important duties of an elected United States Senator is the review and confirmation of federal judges, said Kay Daly, president of the Coalition for a Fair Judiciary. After observing the slow, painful deterioration of the judicial nominations process, it is readily apparent that a vocal minority is determined to obstruct the President's judicial nominees at all costs. In fact, for the first time in history, the filibuster has been deployed to grind several nominations to a halt. To that end, voters need to know what they can expect of their elected Senators once they reach those venerable chambers. Congressman Isakson, by signing the Fair Judiciary Oath, has spoken loud and clear."

On June 16th, the Coalition for a Fair Judiciary faxed a copy of the Fair Judiciary Oath to each of the Senate candidates with a cover letter explaining the purpose of the Oath. Georgia was the first state in the nation to participate in the Oath project.

According to a recent Zogby poll, a solid majority of Americans, in both the red and the blue states, believe that the filibuster applied to judicial nominations is unfair and that nominees deserve a simple up-or-down vote.

"Men and women of outstanding character and experience, nominated by their President to serve on the federal bench, have been held in a nominations process akin to purgatory because of an ideological litmus test imposed by those who seek to hijack the federal courts for their own extreme agenda," said Daly.

The Coalition for a Fair Judiciary has conferred upon Rep. Johnny Isakson a "Friend of the Constitution designation for signing the Fair Judiciary Oath.

"With the virtual certainty that a vacancy will occur on the United States Supreme Court in the next few years, the importance of this issue, and these candidates opinion on it, is of great interest," said Daly. "Clearly, Congressman Isakson understands that significance and like most Americans, would like to see fairness return to the process. "