National Black Politicos Upset Over Guinier Flap WASHINGTON (AP)'? In a move that enraged the civil-rights community. President Clinton withdrew the nomination of Lani Guinier, a friend of two decades, as his civil rights enforcer. "Clinton said some of her controversial views would have been "very difficult to defend" against Senate critics. Rep. Kweisi Mfume, chair man of the Congressional Black Caucus, called the move "a giant *tep backward." ? ? "Fairness and due process were abandoned for political expe diency." the Maryland Democrat said. Clinton announced his deci sion after a 75-minute Oval Office meeting with Guinier, who he said was "surprised that I felt the way 1 did." Attorney General Janet Reno, who had staunchly supported Guinier. attended the meeting ? briefly^- ? ? ? ? = ? ? ? - Guinier made no immediate statement. Her husband. Temple University communications Profes sor Nolan Bowie, said Guinier remained in Washington, but s"he checked out of her hotel. ~ ~ Clinton said he understood the anger civil rights leaders would feel and vowed to consult them as he sought a new nominee, saying he hoped to make a decision within several days. But civil rights artivkK who lambasted Clinton said they had no candidates. Clinton's announcement ended days of news reports that he was going to abandon Guinier. The speculation became so intense that Guinier even made an extraordinary televised plea for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that would let her defend herself against critics who she said "distorted" her acade mic writings to make her views appear radical. At the same time, civil rights leaders escalated their campaign to President Clinton j save the nomination. Mfume pub licly warned Clinton that dropping Guinier would cost him the caucus' political support on a number of issues, and noted that the president will need their votes to pass his pro grams. The caucus has 40 members, 39 of them in the House that passed Clinton's budget package last week byjusLsix votes. After Clinton announced his decision in a brief, televised news conference, Mfume said in an inter view that the Black Caucus "must now reassess and reevaluate its rela tionship and role with this adminis tration into the future." Clinton has been trying to move to a more centrist position after sliding to a 36 percent approval rating in some polls, but he main* tained that he abandoned the nomi nation ovrr pripr iple. not politics. Guinier, he said, had views that "clearly lend themselves to interpretations that do not represent ~ the views that I expressed on civil rights during my campaign." . ' He singled out her article in the March J 991 Michigan Law Review as unacceptable, saying it "seemed to be arguing for principles of proportional representation in minority veto as general remedies that I think are inappropriate as gen eral remedies and anti -democratic aI? veiy difficult to defend. " ,.v Lani Guinier ? Guinier. a 43-year-old Uni versity of Pennsylvania law profes- . sor who attended Yale University Law School with the Clintons, was attacked as a "quota queen" with far-out views about the federal Vot ing Rights Act. The initial criticism came from conserv ative activists but Leadership Counc i I an?-a number of Senate Democrats. Roger Wilkins, a close friend of Guinier's and a former Justice Department official, said: "Lani Guinier . . . was nibbled to death by cowardly, anonymous White House aides." Patricia Ireland, president of the National Organization for Women, told a Bloomiftgton. Ind., audience that the nomination was blocked because Guinier was "willing to speak out articulately, persuasively and effectively against the exclusion of African Americans and women from the position of power." When Clinton nominated her in late April, he said, he knew her work as a c+v-il rights litigator ? including her 7 1/2 years leading the NAACP Legal Defense and Educa tion Fund's voting rights project in the 1980s. However, he said, he was not familiar with her academic wrif ings of the past five years. We think allowing you to return to your normal activities just hours after "No-Stitch" cataract surgery is a great idea. That's why we started ~ doing it 2-172 years ago. ~ Dr. Richard Epes has performed over 45,000 cataract with lens implant surgeries, including over 10,000 of the revolutionary 4No-Stitch" procedures in the past 2-1/2 years. lens "If I had five more eyes with cataracts I wouldn't go anywhere else but to Dr. Epes at Southeastern for surgery. 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