ANOTHER BRAVE PROTECTOR OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY – AT 7:31 A.M. ET:  Still one more Obama nominee is in trouble.  You wonder who examines the records of these people.  From Fox News:

The Senate Judiciary Committee has postponed the hearing for a controversial Court of Appeals nominee after the panel received a letter from a home-state prosecutor blasting the candidate as a judicial loose cannon and after Republicans raised concerns about bias in favor of sex offenders.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Chatigny gained notoriety in 2005 for his role in trying to fight the execution of convicted serial killer and rapist Michael Ross, also known as The Roadside Strangler, whom Chatigny had described as a victim of his own "sexual sadism."

His conduct in that case, which included threatening to go after Ross' attorney's law license, as well as his ruling in 2001 against sex offender registries created under Megan's Law, has caused a commotion among Republicans on the judiciary panel.

"I've never seen conduct like this," said a Republican source. "I'm shocked that the White House vetted this guy ... and still put him up for a judgeship."

The nomination is relatively fresh. President Obama submitted his name Feb. 24 for a seat on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, calling him a "first-rate" legal expert and "faithful" public servant.

COMMENT:  The Republican request for postponement was granted immediately by committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, pristine liberal of Vermont.  It's an election year.  Even Democrats may well be getting sensitive to some of the eccentric characters nominated by this president.

March 10, 2010