page_title: Priscilla Owen
section_title: Fifth Circuit nomination and confirmation
hierarchical_section_title: Priscilla Owen / Fifth Circuit nomination and confirmation
caption_attribution_description: English: President George W. Bush meets with judicial nominee Priscilla Owen in the Oval Office. File Photo. White House photo by Paul Morse
context_page_description: Priscilla Richman Owen is the Chief United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She was previously a Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.
context_section_description: Owen was nominated on May 9, 2001, by President George W. Bush to fill a vacancy on the Fifth Circuit created by Judge William Lockhart Garwood, who had taken senior status on January 23, 1997. Senate Democrats immediately decided to block her nomination for two reasons. First, the Democrats were angry that two previous nominees who President Clinton had nominated to Garwood's empty seat, Jorge Rangel and Enrique Moreno, were never given hearings by the United States Senate during Clinton's second term because the Senate  at the time controlled by Republicans. Second, they considered her to be too conservative. As a result the Senate Democrats, who controlled the Senate Judiciary Committee during the 107th Congress, did not let Owen's nomination come up for a vote. In 2003, after Republicans had taken the Senate back, Democrats filibustered her. In 2005, after Republicans picked up four more seats in the Senate during the 109th Congress, her nomination was again considered.
  Owen had considerable judicial experience as a member of the Texas Supreme Court, and had been rated "Well-Qualified" (highest possible) by the American Bar Association for the Fifth Circuit position. According to ABC News reporter Jan Crawford Greenburg, Senate Democrats strategically "targeted outspoken conservatives who were potential Supreme Court picks....their successes in filibustering women, Hispanics, and African Americans in 2003 undermined Bush's plans to replace [retiring U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor] with another woman or a minority." Supporters of the Owen nomination asserted that her criticized rulings were often near-unanimous, or simply followed federal precedents. Owen was touted as a judicial conservative who would, in the words of President Bush, "interpret the law, not legislate from the bench."
  Opponents, however, criticized her for what they claimed were her conservative positions on contentious social and economic issues, and pro-corporate decisions.  Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy said President Bush's appointee for Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, during his service with Owen on the Texas Supreme Court had frequently criticized Owen; Kennedy said Gonzales argued one of Owen's positions taken in dissent would "judicially amend" a statute for the benefit of manufacturers selling defective products. On abortion, Owen was criticized by pro-choice groups for her interpretation of Texas's parental-notification law, and for joining a majority decision on overrides only once.
  In May 2005, a compromise was arranged by a bipartisan group of moderate senators called the Gang of 14, which allowed for Owen to finally be given a full Senate vote. On May 24, 2005, debate on her nomination was ended by a vote of 81–18. She was finally confirmed by a vote of 55–43 on May 25, 2005, and was sworn in on June 6, 2005. Owen was the third judge nominated by Bush to the Fifth Circuit and confirmed by the United States Senate.
caption: Owen meets with President George W. Bush in 2002
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