Miguel Angel Estrada Castañeda (born September 25, 1961) is a Honduran-American attorney who became embroiled in controversy following his 2001 nomination by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
[4] At the time of his nomination, Estrada had earned the public support of a bipartisan range of individuals and groups that included Ron Klain, counsel to former Vice President Al Gore and future White House Chief of Staff to Joe Biden; Seth Waxman, Clinton administration Principle Deputy Solicitor General; the Fraternal Order of Police; the League of United Latin American Citizens; the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; and the Hispanic National Bar Association.
[citation needed] Democratic senators opposed the nomination, calling Estrada a "conservative ideologue" and noting his lack of prior judicial experience at the local, state, or federal level.
[6] Estrada had also represented Virginia death row inmate Tommy David Strickler before the Supreme Court, pro bono.
Estrada unsuccessfully argued a new trial should be granted because the prosecution had withheld evidence that could raise questions as to the credibility of a key eyewitness.
At that hearing, Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked Estrada whether he believed that the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade (1973) was rightly decided.
Estrada added, "'I have had no particular reason to go back and look at whether (Roe) was right or wrong as a matter of law, as I would if I were a judge that was hearing the case for the first time'".
[8] In a September 19, 2002 article in The Nation, Jack Newfield reported that Estrada had disqualified applicants for Supreme Court clerkships for holding views that were unacceptably liberal.
[19] With the benefit of hindsight, journalist Jan Crawford asserted that "[i]f Majority Leader Bill Frist had shown real leadership, he would never have allowed a Democratic minority to achieve the first-ever filibusters of appeals court nominees.
Also, a filibuster had been used in 1968 to extend debate regarding the elevation of Associate Abe Fortas to the position of Chief Justice of the United States.
In his letter, Estrada described Kagan as "an impeccably qualified nominee" possessed of a "formidable intellect" and an "exemplary temperament" despite their differing views on the Court and the Constitution.
[26] In July 2010, Kagan wrote a letter expressing her belief in Estrada's "superlative" qualifications for appointment to "any federal court", commending him as "a towering intellect".
[27] In March 2017, Estrada was mentioned as a potential nominee for the position of solicitor general in the administration of Republican President Donald Trump.