THANK GOD HE'S NOT MY NAMESAKE

He is, however, a third cousin on my father's side.

I never knew him personally, because we lived on opposite sides of Jones County, Mississippi. He was our state representative when I was but a child, and the only time he ever came to our corner was when he was in the area hustling votes for reelection. His son now is the area's U.S. Congressman.

I'm talking about retired federal judge Charles Pickering, who was a federal district judge for several years and was appointed to a seat on the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by President Bush while Congress was in recess (a/k/a a "back door appointment") during January, 2004 after his nomination three years earlier was blocked by Senate Democrats who accused him of racial sensitivity. He was forced out later that year when the Senate once again failed to confirm his nomination.

He has now written a book, "Supreme Chaos: The Politics of Judicial Confirmation and the Culture War", describing his experience during the confirmation process.

During a visit to Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi this week, Pickering opined that the Constitution should be amended to read that judges cannot "legislate from the bench".

From the story which ran in today's Hattiesburg American:

"This way judges could not change, alter or add to our Constitution...Now judges are legislating from the bench and we have a mystery Constitution."

The 68-year-old retired judge described the judicial confirmation process as mean-spirited and highly partisan (DUH!), and documents the history of recent confirmation fights on Capitol Hill. He says he will expand on his ideas for improving the process in his next book, due in early 2007.

One interesting note: According to the American story, Pickering's lecture was attended by approximately 400 students...some of them saying they were there as a class requirment.