Page 4-Wednesday May 43, 1981-The Michigan Daily
Questions arise
over Reagan s
new appointment
WASHINGTON (AP) - William
Bradford Reynolds, an attorney with
limited background in civil rights law,
is expected to be nominated as the
nation's chief civil rights enforcer, a
Justice Department source' said
yesterday.
The source, who asked not to be iden-
tified because he said he did not want to
pre-empt President Reagan's announ-
cement, said Reynolds is the leading
candidate for the job of assistant attor-
ney general in charge of the Justice
Department's civil rights division.
THE SOURCE SAID that a
nomination is expected shortly.
Reynolds, 38, is a partner in the
Washington law firm of Shaw, Pittman,
Potts & Trowbridge. He was an attor-
ney from 1970 to 1973 in the Solicitor
General's office at the Justice Depar-
tment.
The solicitor general's office ap-
proves all court appeals and handles
legalwork in the Supreme Court..
ANOTHER JUSTICE Department
source, who also asked not to be iden-
tified, said that Reynolds, who is white,
was selected primarily because he is
said to be a superb lawyer who shares
the administration's policy commit-
ments and, secondarily, because he has
previous experience in the department.
This source said that Reynolds is
quite experienced with constitutional
issues and that constitutional questions
are likely to be important in the work of
the division.
The source ndted that Congress is
considering several pieces of civil
rights legislation which involve con-
stitutional issues. Among these is a
move by some conservative senators to
prevent the Justice Department from
taking any legal action which could
lead directly or indirectly to mandatory
school busing to achieve desegregation.
In general, the Reagan ad-
ministration is opposed to mandatory
school busing for desegregation. The
administration also opposes
requirements that employers use
numerical quotas for minority hiring to
meet affirmative action goals in civil
rights cases.
.REYNOLDS' BACKG'ROUND con-
trasts sharply with that of Drew Days
III, his predecessor in the Carter ad-
ministration. Days came to the Justice
Department after spending a number of
years trying major civil rights cases for
the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Reached in New Haven, Conn., where
he is now a Yale Law School professor,
Days said he was reserving judgment
about Reynolds "until I hear his views.
But from people who know him, he does
sound like an accomplished lawyer, and
that's a positive step."
Reynolds could not immediately be
reached for comment because his
secretary said he was out of the office.
Justice Department spokesman Tom
DeCair declined to comment on the
nomination but noted that Reynolds had
been around the department recently.
A native of Bridgeport, Conn.,
Reynolds was graduated from Yale in
1964 and received his law degree from
Vanderbilt University Law School,
where he was editor of the law review.
In Brief
Compiled frm Associated Press and
United Presss International reports
Polish court reeognizes
independent farmers' union
WARSAW, Poland-A Polish court registered Rural Solidarity yesterday,
taking the final step in government recognition of the first independent union
of private farmers in the Communist bloc.
Outside the Warsaw court, some 4,000 supporters burst into cheers and
hoisted Rural Solidarity's leader, 23-year-old Jan Kulaj, to their shoulders.
Kulaj vowed the new union would not stage any strike that would jeopar-
dize food supplies in Poland, which is already suffering severe shortages and
rationing.
The Soviets have been sharplycritical of the Polish independent uiion
movement in general and Rural Solidarity in particular.
Poland's 3.5 million private farmers own 70 percent of the nation's land
and provide 80 percent of its food. They have been seeking a union of their
own since Solidarity was formed after last summer's wave of strikes.
Judge Zdizslaw Koscielniak, who once refused to register Rural
Solidarity, warned that failure to abide by its charter could annul the union's
legality. The charter carries a pledge to 'recognize the leading role of the
Communist Party in Polish life. It is similar to one given by Solidarity, the
independent federation of Polish trade unions. .
Veterans' bill approved
WASHINGTON-The House Veterans Affairs Committee approved a bill
yesterday directing the Veterans Administration to give priority medical
treatment to veterans who believe their ailments spring from exposure to
Agent Orange. The Reagan administration opposes the legislation.
The bill's health provisions would be in effect for three years, while the VA
conducts a study comparing the health of .4 million men potentially exposed
to the herbicide in Vietnam withthe condition of men their age who did not
serve in Vietnam.
The'measure also would keep in operation for three more years 91
storefront readjustment counseling centers for Vietnam veterans.
The Reagan administration had proposed that the centers be clos'ed on
Oct. 1, for a saving of $31 million a year, but that proposal ran into a wall of
opposition.
The measure also authorizes the counseling centers to set up on-the-job
training programs for unemployed Vietnam veterans.
Coal industry talks resume
WASHINGTON-Union and coal industry representatives returned to the
bargaining table yesterday in an effort to end the 47-day-old miners strike.
After the morning session, however,,no quick settlement was in sight.
UMW President Sam Church is seeking a contract acceptable to the
160,000 rank and file miners, who have been on strike since March 27, when
the previous three-year pact expired.
Miners rejected, by a margin of more than 2-to-1, an earlier tentative ac-
cord that included a 36 percent across-the-board increase in wages and
benefits over the next three years.
Although neither side would indicate whether progress was being made at
the' table, the prospect of some movement seemed heightened by the fact
neither side was walking out.
Burnett libel award cut;
Enquirer denied new trial
HOLLYWOOD-A judge yesterday cut in half Carol Burnett's $1.6 million
libel award from the National Enquirer, but criticized the tabloid for ",pan-
dering" to the public and denied a request for a new trial.
Miss Burnett's lawyers said she would accept the reduced award, but the
Enquirer was expected to appeal.
The Enquirer insisted on its -earlier arguments that it was being singled
out unfairly. "If the defendant in this case had been a publication other than
the National Enquirer, the result would have been different," said Enquirer
attorney William Masterson.
The case was the fist libel suit against the Enquirer to reach the courts.
Judge Peter Smith ruled that the tabloid ran a "half hearted" retraction
to the libelous article that implied Miss Burnett -was drunk in a chic
Washington restaurant.
Sinkhole may be dynamited
WINTER PARK, Fla.-Heavy equipment or even dynamite may be used
to stabilize a giant sinkhole that has swallowed more than two acres of this
posh Orlando bedroom community, an engineer said yesterday.
"Right around the outside of it you have some essentially vertical walls,"
said Orange County engineer Hugh Lokey. "They will either have to stabilize
themselves or some artificial means will have to be used to level them out."
Since Friday night the crater has swallowed trees, a three-bedroom frame
house, five expensive sports cars, a camper, part of a $150,000 city swim-
ming pool, and parts of two businesses.
The sinkhole has become the newest attraction in the Orlando area, home
for Disney World and a half dozen other major tourist stops.
4
Senate OKs budget;
Reagan scores again
(Continued from Page i)
that Reagan's budget "is badly out of
balance." "And I'm convinced his
economic plan will fail to provide a
balanced budget even by 1984," Cran-
ston said.
SEN. LOWELL WEICKER (R-
Conn.) also said he would oppose the
plan, saying it was based on "snake-oil
economics." He criticized Reagan for
recommending deep cuts in social
programs while calling for large in-
creases in defense spending.
Before turning to the final vote,
Senate spent several hours defeating
several last-minute amendments by
Democrats trying to change the plan to
their liking beforeits certain passage..
An attempt by Sen. William Prox-
mire (D-Wis.) to force another $48.6
billion in cuts and balance the budget
next year also failed, 81-13. So did
several moves by other Democrats to
restore funds for a variety of social
programs such as education, mass
transit and school lunches.
. IT VOTED 81-17 against an amen-
dment by Sen. Donald Riegle (D-Mich.)
to cut $2.2 billion from defense and put
it into several domestic programs, in-
cluding education, mass transit and
veterans programs.
The blueprint for the 1982 fiscal year
is similar to the spending guideline the
- Democratic-controlled House voted last
week in a remarkable victory for the
president. The relatively, minor dif-
ferences in the two. plans will be
resolved by negotiators for the two
houses, possibly as early as this week.
Both the House and Senate plans are
merely guidelines for Congress to
follow later in the year, and the actual
nature of the spending cuts and the size
and shape of the tax bill that emerges
from Congress won't be known for
weeks or months.
THE HOUSE-passed plan calls for
spending of $688.8 billion, a deficit of $31
billion and spending cuts of $36.6 billion.
But it, too, leaves room for the defense
buildup and tax reductions the
president wants.
Earlier, the Senate voted, 62-32,
against an amendment by Sen. Howard
Matzenbaum (D-Ohio) aimed at closing
a controversial tax shelter.
Metzenbaum said it would have
raised $1.3 billion in revenues by
eliminating a shelter known as the
"butterfly straddle"a.