extreme, even in comparison with her Republican colleagues on the Ohio Supreme Court,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy. “She consistently seems bent on narrowly construing laws intended to remedy violations of the rights of individuals.” [Vote 139, 5/5/03; AP, 5/5/03] XXXX Voted For Anti-Choice Nominee Priscilla Owen. XXXX repeatedly voted to confirm President Bush’s Nomination of Priscilla Owen to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the 5th Circuit. Democrats opposed Owen in part because of her extremely narrow view of the rights of minors seeking abortions, which she displayed in a dissenting opinion in a case dealing with Texas’ parental notification law. Owen was even criticized by now- Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, who served on the Texas Supreme Court with Owen and wrote that her reading of the law in the parental notification case represented “an unconscionable act of judicial activism.” In addition, Senate Democrats called her a conservative, judicial activist who had regularly sided with big business and insurance firms over injured workers and consumers. [Vote 128, 6/25/05; Vote 127, 6/24/05; Vote 308, 7/29/03; Vote 450, 11/14/03; Vote 144, 5/8/03; Vote 137, 5/1/03; Vote 128, 5/25/05; Washington Post, 5/26/05; New York Times, 12/24/04; Los Angeles Times, 9/06/02] XXXX Voted To Confirm Judicial Nominee Victor Wolski to U.S. Claims Court; Wolski Had Anti- Environmental Record. In 2003, XXXX voted for the confirmation of President Bush’s nomination of Victor Wolski of Virginia to the U.S. Claims Court. Wolski was former counsel for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which was described as “one of the nation’s most active litigators against government regulations, particularly those dealing with endangered species, Western water rights and other environmental issues.” [Vote 265, 7/9/03; Greenwire, 7/10/03; CQ Daily Monitor, 7/9/03] XXXX Supported Controversial Judge William Pryor. XXXX consistently voted to confirm President Bush’s nomination of William H. Pryor Jr. of Alabama to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. [Vote 133, 6/9/05; Vote 132, 6/8/05; Vote 441, 11/6/03; Vote 316, 7/31/03]  Pryor Defended the Practice of Handcuffing Prisoners to Hitching Posts. Pryor defended Alabam’s assertion that it was legal to tie prisoners to hitching posts as punishment for misbehavior. The Supreme Court struck down the practice, and in its opinion, condemned Pryor’s brief defending the practice, saying “Pryor’s legal brief was ‘antithetical to human dignity” and “both degrading and dangerous.” [Washington Times, 6/9/2005]  Pryor Was the Only State AG to File Brief in Support of Bush When Bush V. Gore Went Before the Supreme Court. When the outcome of the election was put before the Supreme Court, Pryor was the only state attorney general to file an amicus brief in support of George W. Bush when Bush v. Gore was before the Supreme Court. [Brief of the State of Alabama as Amicus Curiae Supporting Reversal, Bush v. Gore, 2000 U.S. Briefs 949, cited by Alliance for Justice in Opposition to the Nomination of Pryor]  Pryor Called the Voting Rights Act “an Affront to Federalism.” William Pryor told congress that he opposed a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that protected minority voting rights. Pryor called this essential provision “an affront to federalism and an expensive burden that has far outlived its usefulness.” [Transcript of Pryor Testimony, 7/15/97]  Pryor Opposed the Violence Against Women Act. Pryor was the only state attorney general to ask the Supreme Court to strike down the Violence Against Women Act. 36 state attorneys general urged the court to uphold the law. [New York Times, 8/4/03, 6/23/03]  Pryor Opposed Environmental Regulations Such as Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution criticized Pryor’s record with respect to environment as “far out of the mainstream ... Pryor has attacked federal environmental protections on the basis of his radical states’ rights philosophy.” In 2001 Pryor filed an amicus brief to persuade the Supreme Court to revoke the US government’s authority to enforce the Endangered Species Act and prevent the destruction of red wolves. That same year Pryor also filed an amicus brief to urge the Supreme Court to strip the federal government of its power to enforce the Clean Water Act in order to protect wetlands. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 242