6-08-05,9:15am

A devotion to right-wing religious beliefs, loathing of gay and lesbian people, opposition to federal protections of civil rights, and a potential corruption scandal make William Pryor a strong candidate for breaking the so-called filibuster compromise piece-mealed together in the Senate a couple of weeks ago.

Despite a back-door deal among 14 centrist Senators to allow votes on some of President Bush’s most extremely ideologically right wing oriented judicial nominations, some of the appointees are continuing to earn the ire of broad sections of the public.

A coalition of faith-based organizations, civil rights, and even one Republican Party affiliated group are calling for opposition to seating William Pryor on the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

According to a statement released by this coalition, “Mr. Pryor repeatedly has exhibited that he is far outside of the mainstream of American jurisprudence.”

The coalition includes the Human Rights Campaign, the Log Cabin Republicans, The Interfaith Alliance, and ADA Watch/National Coalition for Disability Rights, among others. This coalition described Pryor’s potential confirmation as “detrimental to religious liberty, human rights, women’s rights, rights of the disabled, consumers, workers, and the environment.”

A statement by the Human Rights Campaign, a national civil rights organization for gay and lesbian people, urged opposition to seating Pryor stating, he “has gone out of his way to oppose equal rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.”

In 2002, for instance, Pryor overstepped his role as Alabama attorney general and authored an amicus brief in the Supreme Court defending a Texas statute that outlawed gay sex, and in particular that state’s interest in singling out same-sex relations for punishment. There was no basis in Alabama law for Pryor to take this extraordinary action.

The Supreme Court overturned the Texas law.

The notoriety Pryor received for filing the brief brought him national attention from the religious right and contributed to a boost in his political fortunes in the Republican Party.

But this wasn’t the first time he used is position improperly to gain national attention. As the co-chair of the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign in Alabama, Pryor was the only attorney general to file an amicus brief in support of President Bush's position in Bush v. Gore, a case involving Florida – not Alabama – election law.

Pryor also voted, while holding a “recess appointment” on the Circuit Court, to uphold a discriminatory law in Florida that prevents gay couples from adopting children. Pryor hadn’t even been confirmed by the Senate – a Constitutional prerequisite for holding his office – and he was imposing his anti-gay sentiments on the people of Florida.

Among his other ideologically driven political beliefs are opposition to and record of trying to overturn a host of federal employment protections, including the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Pryor has also urged Congress to eliminate a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, which protects the right to vote for African Americans and other minorities.

Wade Henderson of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a coalition of labor and civil rights groups, urged opposition in the Senate to Pryor’s confirmation. “To say that Judge William Pryor is far out of the mainstream is an understatement,” said Henderson.

Henderson accused Bush and the Republicans of trying to “pack” the courts with activist judges “who seek to impose their extreme ideology through their legal decisions.”

Henderson described Pryor’s career as decidedly “devoted ... to curtailing the rights and freedoms of ordinary Americans. From employment discrimination to regulations enabling Americans to breathe clean air and drink clean water.”

Nan Aron of the Alliance for Justice, a 25-year old public interest association, that called for continuing a congressional investigation begun in the previous session into Pryor’s relationship to a Republican Party fund raising organization called the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA).

According to a letter from Aron to the Senate Judiciary Committee that oversees judicial confirmations, “Mr. Pryor was one of the founders of RAGA, an organization whose members raise money from corporations that they, as attorneys general, may have to investigate, sue or prosecute.”

Other Republican Party elected officials withdrew form RAGA because of the organization’s appearance of “impropriety.”

Public documents submitted to the committee raised questions about Pryor’s role in RAGA and whether or not he was honest in his answers under oath to the committee.

Though Pryor denied to the Senate any knowledge of having solicited campaign funds from Alabama companies that were RAGA members, those documents show that he did ask for donations from several companies that do business in Alabama, including International Paper Corporation and the United States Steel Corporation, and that certain companies with Alabama subsidiaries, including the parent company to Alabama Power, became RAGA members.

An investigation into whether Pryor improperly solicited funds from companies he was legally obligated to regulate hasn’t been completed and Pryor’s confirmation must be delayed until it has been, says Aron.

--Leo Walsh can be reached at