Originally posted by Ripsnort
No worse than what a certain Senators background has to do with the KKK 
(sic) I'm surprised the "People for an American Way" website doesn't mention Senator Bird.
Pretty good bio too:
Nice bio but rather self serving...here's the other side of his story...
Civil Rights Record on the Bench. As a federal district court judge, Charles Pickering has been indifferent and sometimes even hostile to cases brought to address injustices. In 1994, Judge Pickering presided over a case in which the government brought criminal charges against three individuals for burning a cross on the lawn of an interracial couple. Two of the defendants pled guilty, but Daniel Swan went to trial and was convicted of charges resulting in a mandatory seven years in prison. Although Pickering has a reputation for being a law-and-order judge, he claimed to have been troubled by the disparities between Swan's sentence and those of his two co-defendants. He repeatedly used off-the-record threats and other methods to force prosecutors to drop the most serious charge against Swan. Pickering then sentenced Swan to 27 months in prison-almost five fewer years than the law required-for an act that he called a "drunken prank."
He has also been hostile to other lawsuits involving civil rights issues. He called the one person/one vote doctrine "obtrusive" and has complained that strengthening African-American voting power through the redistricting process could be harmful. He has rarely ruled in favor of an employment discrimination plaintiff. When asked about his unbalanced record on employment discrimination cases at his 2002 confirmation hearing, Pickering made the outrageous assertion that meritorious claims are resolved by the EEOC and generally only those lacking in merit are brought to the federal courts.
Civil Rights Record as an Attorney. Pickering's actions on the bench reinforce dramatically that the insensitivity he demonstrated as a young lawyer towards some of the most divisive issues our nation has faced continues unabated. As a law student in 1959, Pickering wrote an article suggesting a way for Mississippi to strengthen its law against interracial marriage. Soon after his law school graduation, he formed a three-person law partnership with a man who ran for governor as a "total segregationist." Later, as a legislator serving in the all-white Mississippi state Senate, he voted against several measures intended to expand electoral opportunities for African- Americans. He also voted to continue funding for the Sovereignty Commission, a notorious state-funded agency founded to fight desegregation in Mississippi and to spy on civil rights and union activists.
At his 1990 hearing for a district court seat, Pickering stated under oath: "I never had any contact with [the Sovereignty Commission] and I had disagreement with the purposes and the methods and some of the approaches that they took." Not only had Pickering voted to fund the Sovereignty Commission, recently released documents include a memo to the Commission's files indicating that Pickering was "very interested" in a Sovereignty Commission investigation into union activity in his hometown and "requested to be apprised of developments" regarding the investigation.
Reproductive Freedom. Pickering is anti-choice. As a state senator, he voted for a constitutional convention to pass an amendment overturning Roe v. Wade. He also chaired the committee for the Republican Party that originally drafted the party platform plank opposing abortion even in cases of rape or incest or to protect the health of a pregnant woman.
Opposition. Judge Pickering's nomination has been opposed by a broad coalition of public interest groups as noted below. In addition, the Congressional Black Caucus has written a letter to Senator Leahy opposing Pickering's confirmation to the Fifth Circuit:
We would like to make our position perfectly clear to you and the Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Congressional Black Caucus adamantly opposes the nomination of Mr. Pickering to the Fifth Circuit. Mr. Pickering's career and record on civil rights is a grave concern. Mr. Pickering also has a quarter-century of hostility to women's rights, including a woman's right to choose.1
