Prometheus 6   

Civil rights lawyer quits NAACP in rift over judge pick
By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

A prominent black civil rights lawyer from California quit the NAACP this week after a disagreement with the group over his support of one of President Bush's judicial nominees.

After Leo Terrell appeared at a news conference last week in support of a nominee being blocked by Democrats, two officials of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People telephoned him and tried "bullying" him over his position, he said.

"They were trying to make me goose-step with them," said Mr. Terrell, who joined the NAACP 13 years ago and has done free legal work for the group. "I felt embarrassed to call myself a member of the NAACP. I was proud to quit."

But Hilary O. Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington office, said he called Mr. Terrell simply to advise him against billing himself as an "NAACP lawyer."

"He's not an NAACP lawyer, not even a former NAACP lawyer," Mr. Shelton said. "He's done volunteer work for us, which we appreciate.

"But when he takes a position that is diametrically opposite from our position, he's not speaking for us," he said.