WASHINGTON - July 20 - The Sierra Club today applauded Senators for rejecting efforts to force a vote on controversial judicial nominee William Myers. Senators voted to support continued debate of William Myers's credentials to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Because of Myers's antagonism towards environmental protections, the Sierra Club has joined with more than 180 citizen groups to oppose Myers's nomination, including the National Conference of American Indians, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and AFL-CIO.

"I am grateful that Senators stood up to President Bush's attempts to pack our top courts with anti-environmental judges and demanded more answers about William Myers," said David Bookbinder, Sierra Club's Washington Legal Director. "Myers's avowed hostility toward environmental protections make him unfit to serve on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a court that handles an exceptionally large number of environmental cases."

William Myers has a well-documented record of enmity towards laws protecting the environment, calling into serious question his ability to rule fairly and without bias. Indeed, Myers spent the bulk of his career as an attorney and lobbyist for the mining, timber, and grazing industries. He also was the longtime Executive Director of the Cattleman's Beef Association.

Myers has argued that the Endangered Species Act is unconstitutional, suggesting that property rights are as "fundamental" as rights of free speech, in which case the government may not intrude upon them, except in very narrow circumstances. This view has not only been rejected repeatedly by the Supreme Court but it could spell doom for environmental protection laws which can affect water and land on private property. Myers does not believe that wetlands are even covered by the Clean Water Act, another of his views that the Supreme Court rejected long ago.

Myers' public statements confirm his antagonism towards Congressional efforts to protect endangered species and wild places. Myers has compared the government's management of public lands to King George's "tyrannical" rule over the American colonies.

Myers has minimal litigation experience at any level and lacks a record of scholarly legal writings. More than one-third of his American Bar Association review panel deemed him "unqualified" for this post, while the remaining members of the panel gave him a tepid, "qualified" rating. None deemed him "well-qualified" for this position.

"William Myers is the wrong choice for the Ninth Circuit," concluded Bookbinder. "We can do better. The courts may be the last hope we have to halt the administration's assault on the environment. Myers barely a received 'qualified' rating from the American Bar Association and the Sierra Club is pleased that Senators are standing up to President Bush's efforts to pack the bench with unqualified, extreme nominees like William Myers. We urge President Bush to work with the Senate in a bipartisan manner to find fair and qualified judges for our nation's high courts."

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