Bush Administration - Bush and the Judiciary
Bush and the Judiciary
The Bush administration built on Reagan's policy of carefully screening nominations to the federal bench in order to exercise a conservative influence on the interpretation of the law. Like Reagan's appointees, Bush's nominees tended to be young and white and could be expected to hold their lifetime appointments long after Bush stepped down from the presidency. Bush appointed a record number of women to the federal bench.
The Bush and Reagan appointees tended to construe laws very narrowly and to side with conservatives who sought to restrict abortion, affirmative action (special benefits intended to improve the lives of underprivileged minorities and women), and the rights of criminal defendants, and to increase the influence of religion in public life. While Bush's policies were not always conservative in other arenas, Bush and C. Boyden Gray, the White House counsel who screened judicial nominees,...
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