Texas judge at center of partisan firestorm

AP Wire | 05/14/2005 | Texas judge at center of partisan firestorm: "The scrutiny was not unexpected. The rancor and hostility from some at the mere mention of her name has been a surprise.

Friends and acquaintances of federal appeals court nominee Priscilla Owen say the Texas Supreme Court justice is trying to take a business-as-usual approach to a job she loves, but has been disheartened by the firestorm surrounding the job President Bush wants her to get.

'The hardest part of this process, it seems to me just hearing her talk about it, is not just hitting the ball over the net or responding to questions or trying to go through the process, but it is hearing yourself unfairly and wrongly characterized and not being able to effectively answer,' fellow Justice Nathan Hecht said.

It's been four years this month since Bush nominated Owen to fill a vacancy on the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A full Senate vote on her confirmation, along with six other contested Bush judicial nominees, has been stalled in a partisan scrap that focuses on whether senators can filibuster the president's choices."