Daily Kos reports the Estrada filibuster is on. Here's the details so far.

MyDD says Estrada is on hold and won't be seeing a vote in the Senate. Democrats say they have 44 of their 48 votes agreeing to a filibuster. They only need 41.

Update: Here's more.

Don't miss Sam Heldman today on the Estrada nomination--and the myths being perpetuated. [link via Atrios]

Myth 1: The filibuster of Estrada is "unprecedented."

Myth 2: The opposition to Estrada is an instance of national-origin discrimination

Myth 3: It's inappropriate for Senate Democrats to ask tough questions about what Estrada believes about various substantive issues of law.

Sam explains all, go over and read him.

Despite a request from President Bush, Democratic senators today vowed to delay the vote on Miguel Estrada's nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In a major escalation of the increasingly bitter partisan fight over Bush's judgeship choices, Democrats announced they had enough votes to block an immediate vote on nomination of the conservative Hispanic attorney to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. While stopping short of saying they would kill the nomination, they said they would filibuster -- or delay a vote -- until Estrada more fully answers questions about his legal views and the Bush administration provides memoranda he wrote while he worked in the office of the solicitor general in the Justice Department.

Update: Lupe just posted her perplexity with the Democratic opposition to Estrada in our comments section. She'd like to see a hispanic on the Court and doesn't get it. Here is our response:

Lupe, thank you for asking. Here are some of the reasons we don't want Estrada.

A lot of hispanic groups oppose Estrada. Go here and read their opposition letters and memorandum of reasons. The groups include the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF); Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF); and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC).

My DD reports, "For Estrada, the 60 votes are not there to invoke cloture. Novak states that the Republicans see only five Democratic senators backing Estrada, so the 60 senators needed for cloture seem unattainable. The Estrada nomination is 4-5 votes short."

Nat Hentoff, not a liberal by any stretch, but very good on civil liberties issues and great on bashing Ashcroft, has a new column today called Schumer v. Pickering--arguing that Pickering's record has been misconstrued by" lazy journalists."

Hentoff reviews the infamous cross-burning case--and points out some good sentencing decisions Pickering made on behalf of black offenders. A criminal defense lawyer we know and respect in Mississippi also sticks up for Pickering - big time.

We haven't changed our mind and we still oppose Pickering ( here's why), but today we thought we'd bring out the other side. Especially since we are far more opposed to Priscilla Owen and Miguel Estrada.

We hope that those who think we would oppose anyone Bush nominated will read our support of Edward C. Prado, currently a U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Texas, who was just nominated by Bush for a seat on the Fifth Circuit.

President Bush has nominated Edward C. Prado, a U.S. District Court Judge in the Western District of Texas, for a seat on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

We are pleased. Judge Prado opposes mandatory minimum sentences. In 1996, on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), I invited Judge Prado to Washington, DC, to serve on a panel of experts opposing mandatory minimum sentences, as part of our then-annual Legislative Fly-in. The panel was entitled, Sentencing: The Miscarriage of Mandatory Minimums. Other members of the panel included U.S. District Court Judge Terry Hatter (C.D.C.A.) and Julie Stewart of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM).

Judge Prado was appointed to the federal bench by President Reagan in 1984. Prior to that he had been both a prosecutor and a public defender and a state court judge.

Here are Judge Prado's remarks:

News coverage has frequently emphasized that if confirmed, Judicial nominee Miguel Estrada will be sitting on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the nation's "second most important court." What exactly does that mean? And why is it so troubling that Bush wants to pack the DC Circuit with conservative judges? Chris Mooney explains both in Circuit Breaker, in the new issue of American Prospect.

Fax your senators and tell them to filibuster against the Estrada confirmation. The form is here, courtesy of People for the American Way.

[links via Smythes World]

The vote on Bush judicial pick Miguel Estrada is tomorrow. Dial 1-800-839-5276 tonight or early tomorrow and tell your senators to filibuster Miguel Estrada tomorrow. The Washington Post says "Republicans...hold a two-vote advantage in the Senate where a filibuster is the only likely option for Democrats to stop a presidential nominee."

What's wrong with Miguel Estrada? Start with the New York Times editorial, "An Unacceptable Nominee." Then read Media Horse this past week - they have the whole story. For more, go to People for the American Way.

Remember, Estrada is particularly dangerous because he is up for a seat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. A disproportionate share of our Supreme Court Justices come from that court. Those in the know posit that Bush intends to put Estrada on the Supreme Court. We don't even know what he stands for. We've never read opinions by him. We know he worked on the Bush election controversy in Florida with Ted Olson, and that he offers advice to, and is a friend of, a certain acerbic-tongued light-haired pundit.

What can you do? Lisa English of Ruminate This has this answer:

The administration is pushing for a vote on Estrada that will come soon...anytime between now and Colin Powell's speech before the United Nations tomorrow. Distract the people and they'll not think to protest the packing of uber-conservatives with lifetime appointments onto the nation's courts.

Timing is everything. Do these two things. It will take you TEN MINUTES:

1. Pick up the phone - right now - and dial the toll-free congressional switchboard at 1-800-839-5276. Urge your Senator to FILIBUSTER the Estrada nomination. That's it. You'll be asked your name, address and phone. Simple and to the point.

2. Follow up that call with a visit to True Majority and send off their fax which calls for an Estrada filibuster. The fax is already written. If you agree with the verbage, just sign your name and move on. If you'd like to craft your own personal message, take the opportunity to do so.

We are talking ten minutes of your time. Ten minutes that can make a difference. Our country cannot afford to tolerate the corporate and religious ideologues being pumped out by this administration onto our courts.

Here's a small part of what the Horse says about Estrada:

Atrios reminds us:

There are a lot of reasons to not support the Estrada nomination, but frankly there is a simple one which should be enough - his complete failure to be forthcoming about any controversial issue during his confirmation hearing. Take action. Contact your Senator. Stiffen their spines."

Don't miss Media Horse on the foolhardy Estrada nomination as well. It's like buying a pig in a poke (at least we think that's the expression.)

The GOP successfully propelled the judicial nomination of Miguel Estrada out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, headed to a full Senate vote. "The committee sent Estrada's nomination for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to the full Senate on a 10-9 vote. All Republicans voted for Estrada and all Democrats opposed the nomination."

If confirmed, Estrada will sit on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Speculation has it that Bush wants Estrada on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The vote could come as early as tomorrow. "Republicans...hold a two-vote advantage in the Senate, where a filibuster is the only likely option for Democrats to stop a presidential nominee. "It'll be an intensive debate and they'll fight against him, but I think in the end we'll be able to get Miguel out," said the committee chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah."

We hope there's a filibuster. Here's why. Here's more.