Jay S. Bybee
US Court of Appeals
ninth circuit

He earned his J.D., cum laude, from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University.  President Bush nominated him for the court of appeals in 2003.  The senate approved his nomination with a 74-19 vote.  Critics labeled him an extremist who takes an overly limited view of federal power vis-à-vis the states and an overly narrow view of individual rights, particularly with regard to abortion.