Number 15 William Myers, III

William Myers, III, former Interior Department Solicitor, Ninth Circuit nominee. Myers has devoted his career, both inside and outside government, to weakening environmental laws. As a lawyer and lobbyist for the grazing and mining industries, Myers argued that Clean Water Act regulations protecting small lakes were unconstitutional and that the Endangered Species Act was altogether unconstitutional. He compared federal laws protecting the environment to King George's "tyrannical" domination over the colonies.

Myers' hostility toward environmentalists and his advocacy on behalf of the grazing and mining industries did not abate once he became Interior Department Solicitor, the agency's top lawyer. Myers continued to attack environmentalists as being "litigation happy." One of Myers' few official acts reversed Clinton-era regulations, paving the way for a mining company to open a mine on land sacred to the Quechan Indian Tribe. While writing the regulation, Myers met with the mining company but ignored meeting requests from the Quechan Tribe.

Myers' record in government raises additional ethical concerns. The Interior Department inspector general has released two reports critical of Myers' office. In one report, the inspector general found that, in entering a "sweetheart" deal for a rancher who had repeatedly violated laws protecting federal lands, the office "circumvented normal [negotiation] processes", ignored concerns raised by the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Justice, presided over a process that suffered from a "profound lack of transparency," and failed to "adequately protect ... the interests of the BLM." In another report, the inspector general found that Myers continued to meet with his former law firm and clients while at the Interior Department, despite an agreement not to do so, and that Myers had been forced to return gifts from his former firm and reimburse the firm $2,000 for a trip to a ski resort to attend the firm's annual retreat.

The American Bar Association gave Myers its lowest passing grade, with a bare majority of the rating committee finding him qualified, a substantial minority rating him not qualified and no members rating him well qualified.

From 'Save Our Courts.org'