Judge Wilkins name enters high court mix

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Graham, the state's senior senator, said Wednesday he suggested Wilkins when Karl Rove, President Bush's chief strategist, called him Tuesday to ask if Graham could recommend "anybody you have not heard of that you would like to throw into the mix."

Wilkins, 63, said he was "honored that Sen. Graham would take this action," but was unaware it had taken place.

He is chief judge of the Richmond-based appellate court. Wilkins served from 1981 until 1986 as a U.S. District Court judge before taking a seat on the 4th Circuit. He was nominated for each by President Reagan.

Asked if Wilkins is a serious possibility for the court, Graham, a Seneca Republican, said, "I don't know. I can only tell you from my point of view that it was a serious recommendation because he's a known jurist who fits in the category of a solid conservative, but who would be very confirmable. I'm sure it will be considered in a serious way."

Several weeks ago Graham brokered a Senate deal that drew in seven Democratic and seven Republican senators who committed to up-or-down votes on future appellate and Supreme Court nominees.

Democrats agreed they would not filibuster unless "extraordinary circumstances" were involved.

The Republicans agreed to oppose Majority Leader Bill Frist's plan to eliminate filibusters in judicial nominations.

Several lower court nominees were speedily confirmed afterward.

Graham said it wasn't a courtesy call but "part of an overall effort by the White House to reach out to the Senate as a whole. I'm on Judiciary, so I'm in a unique spot, but this isn't about talking to me, it's about a real effort to get input from the Senate and that will immeasurably help because it will show the president does care about what senators think."

While the conservative Wilkins may fit the White House mold philosophically, his age may not match the potential for a 25- to 30-year tenure officials have indicated is part of the equation for settling on a nominee.

Graham said, "That's probably the one thing that would cut against his nomination. That, in all honesty, would be his biggest impediment."

"It would be purely speculative on my part," Wilkins said, "but presidents in the past have considered age as one of the factors in making the selection, with some exceptions. It's been a factor, but not the dispositive factor."

The current vacancy was created by Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's impending retirement.

It's not the first time that Wilkins' name and a Supreme Court vacancy have come up. Twice before he has been mentioned as a possible nominee, most recently in 1990 when Associate Justice William Brennan retired. President George H. W. Bush selected federal appellate Judge David Souter.

In 1987, when he was 45, Wilkins was mentioned as a possible successor to retiring Associate Justice Lewis Powell. The nomination went to Anthony Kennedy.

Also, Wilkins was a law clerk to 4th Circuit Judge Clement Haynsworth when President Nixon nominated the Greenville jurist to the Supreme Court vacancy created by the resignation of Associate Justice Abe Fortas. Haynsworth, now deceased, was rejected by the Democratic-held Senate.

Wilkins is a former solicitor of the 13th Judicial Circuit and chaired the U.S. Sentencing Commission from 1985 until 1994 as the panel rewrote federal sentencing guidelines.

His younger brother, David, resigned in June as speaker of the state House of Representatives to become Bush's choice for U.S. ambassador to Canada.

Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883.