On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate, by a vote of 64-35, confirmed the nomination of
Michael Simon as federal district judge for the district of Oregon. As reported by the
Oregonian, Simon was
originally nominated in 2010 and was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. However the full Senate never voted on the nomination. President Obama renominated Simon this year and he was again approved by the Judiciary Committee by a vote of 14-4. The opposing votes were all from Republicans. Simon is a
cum laude graduate of the Harvard Law School, worked for the Justice Department and then joined a Portland law firm. However Republican opposition to his nomination stemmed from Simon's long association with the ACLU. Here, from the
debate in the Congressional Record, are excerpts from Senator Charles Grassley's speech on the Senate floor that focused in large part on Simon's church-state views:
Throughout his career, Mr. Simon has advocated on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon as a pro bono attorney. But his involvement in the ACLU goes beyond mere representation of a client. Mr. Simon has been a member of the ACLU of Oregon since 1986. He is an active member of their Lawyers’ Committee and served as a board member from 1997 to the year 2004, the vice president for legislation 1997 to 1998, and vice president for litigation from 2000 to 2004....
The ACLU does hold very liberal views, and Mr. Simon has been the voice for those views. For example, Mr. Simon wrote a letter to the Tillamook County Courthouse in Oregon expressing the ACLU’s concern with religious Christmas signs and decorations. The letter encouraged the county to repeal its resolution that deemed the county a ‘‘Merry Christmas County.’’
On issue after issue, Mr. Simon refused to disassociate himself from legal and policy positions held by the ACLU,that are far outside the mainstream. This includes the legalization of drugs, the unconstitutionality of the death penalty, the unconstitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance, the ACLU’s opposition to tax exemptions for churches and extreme views regarding separation of church and state.....
Mr. Simon appears to demand an absolute wall of separation between church and state, as opposed to the U.S. Government promoting a specific religion. He has argued against religious displays on public land, against religious visitors to schools, against a coach praying with his football players. I assume that means even if you’re praying that they don’t get injured. Mr. Simon has argued that it is unconstitutional under the establishment clause to teach intelligent design in public school science classes.
