Ex-Prisoner Puts Tenn. Federal Judge Appointment on Hold
More than a year ago, President George W. Bush nominated Gustavus Puryear IV to be a federal district judge in Nashville, Tenn. His nomination is supported by Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker of Tennessee, which ordinarily would put him on a fast track to confirmation.
But a former prisoner who now works as an inmate advocate is credited with holding up Puryear’s appointment, and persuading other organizations to join with him to lobby against the nominee, too. Alex Friedmann, 39, contends that Puryear is unqualified, the Associated Press reports. The Senate Judiciary Committee had a hearing in February on the Puryear nomination, but hasn’t yet voted to send his nomination to the full Senate for approval.
Puryear, 40, is general counsel of Corrections Corporation of America. The company operates prisons, including one in which Friedmann was incarcerated after he was convicted of armed robbery in the early 1990s, for which he served six years. However, Puryear lacks courtroom experience, Friedmann says, having been involved in only two federal trials, and could have a problem with conflicts in cases concerning CCA. He also contends, on a website he has created to campaign against Puryear’s appointment, that he is too closely allied with the Republican party.
Although it’s not recommended that nominees response to such criticism, attorney Ed Haden in Birmingham, Ala., who is a friend of Puryear’s, says he is well able to do the job.
“As far as his qualifications go, he was at the top of his class in law school, he clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals, he has legislative experience in the U.S. Senate, he manages litigation for a big Fortune 500 company, and the ABA rated him as qualified,” Haden said.
Nonetheless, the opposition Friedmann has rallied against Puryear’s appointment apparently have slowed it down. “I understand they have put Puryear in the ‘controversial’ category,” says Brian Fitzpatrick, an assistant Vanderbilt University law professor who formerly worked for Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. “It’s very rare for a district court nominee to become controversial. Usually they just fly through.”
This isn’t the only time Friedmann has been in the news recently. As discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post, he won a court victory against CCA this summer, persuading a Tennessee judge that CCA, because it is the “functional equivalent” of a state agency in its role as a prison operator, must comply with the state’s open records law.
Additional coverage:
The City Paper: “Puryear judicial nomination draws clash”
Nashville Scene: “Anti-CCA activist Alex Friedmann goes Dumpster-diving to soil Gus Puryear”
