JACKSON - With a wife of 45 years, four children and 20 grandchildren, Charles Pickering Sr. looks forward to living outside the Congressional microscope that scrutinized his life since President Bush nominated him to a federal bench almost four years ago.
But that doesn't mean the former judge won't fight for changes in the judicial nomination process. Last week, he said he would not seek the nomination for a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans amid opposition from Democrats and civil rights groups.
"I'm going to rest a little bit and evaluate my options," Pickering told The Associated Press Sunday. "It would be difficult to go through four years of fighting for confirmation if I didn't feel like when I came out on the other side that my staying in the struggle would have some positive affects. One of those, of course, is being able to speak out on the issue (of judicial nomination)."
President Bush first nominated Pickering, a federal judge in Mississippi, to the appeals court in 2001, but his confirmation was blocked by Democrats.
Democrats accused Pickering of supporting segregation as a young man, and promoting anti-abortion and anti-voting rights as a state lawmaker.
Pickering vehemently denies allegations of racism and challenges doubters to look at his record.
During the turbulent race struggles in Mississippi in the 1960s, Pickering, who was then a county prosecutor in Jones County, said he worked with federal agents to try to bring to an end the reign of terror of the Ku Klux Klan here.
Many federal lawmakers, however, were not convinced and when Democrats blocked Pickering's nomination in November 2003, Bush bypassed Congress and elevated him to the federal appeals court with a recess appointment. The appointment, however, is only valid until Congress convenes in January.
Bush again nominated Pickering for the seat in 2004, but Pickering decided to end his career as a federal judge, which began when he was appointed to the U.S. District Court of Southern Mississippi in 1990 by former President George H.W. Bush.
Pickering, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention in Mississippi, said he would like to see an overhaul of the judicial nomination process and a uniform process for selecting judges.
He said his nomination was defeated because of his religious convictions and primarily his stance on abortion. He called the allegations of racism a smokescreen and added that the harsh nature of the judicial confirmation is harmful to the country.
"The mean spiritedness and lack of civility reduces the pool of nominees willing to offer themselves for judicial service," he said.
Even some Democratic public figures in Mississippi were
offended by Pickering's treatment in the Senate.
At the Neshoba County Fair in July, during a political rally, Mississippi's longest-serving Democratic statewide official, Insurance Commissioner George Dale, surprised some listeners by endorsing President Bush during the presidential elections.
Dale said former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards' tough questioning of Pickering was "a slap in the face of every American."
Other Democrats also supported Pickering, including Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., and John Breaux, D-La.
A majority of the Republican-controlled Senate backed Pickering. But, his confirmation did not come to a vote when he fell short of the 60 votes needed to pass a petition of cloture that would have ended Senate debates and brought the issue to the floor for a vote.
"I have fought this battle for four years and I think for me, and my family, the time is right to move on," he said. "Time and opportunities that come up will dictate what I am able to do. But I … intend to encourage that this bitterness and mean-spiritedness be left behind and we move forward to a new day in judicial confirmation."
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
