Obama Nominee Judge Robert N. Chatigny: Chatigny Soft Spot for Rapists and Murderers?

Judge Robert N. Chatigny is an Obama nominee for the Court of Appeals. How many times must we ask if there is any vetting going on in this White House? The Senate Judiciary has postponed the hearing for Chatigny after receiving information that the Judge had a difficult time letting a serial killer appear for execution - after 18 years on death row.

Judge Robert N. Chatigny

Who wants to do away with sex offender registries? Perhaps Judge Robert Chatigny does.

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...

Behind the scenes, Republicans are taking a hard look at Chatigny's role in the Ross proceedings which they say could be disqualifying -- particularly on the Court of Appeals, the last line of review before the Supreme Court.

"You're letting him be the final review for a lot of people, and he's shown this alarming bias in sex crime cases," a GOP committee aide said. 

"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.

Chatigny is currently a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. He was a Clinton nominee in 1994. Michael Ross was sentenced to death for murdering eight girls and women betten the ages of 14 and 25. He raped them all but one, before murdering them. He lived on Death Row in Connecticut for 18 years.