By Carl Weiser
Enquirer Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Ohio State Supreme Court Justice Deborah Cook won the backing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, clearing the way for a Senate vote that will elevate her to the Cincinnati-based appeals court just one step below U.S. Supreme Court.

The 13-2 vote came after a two-hour debate in which Democrats accused Republicans of trying to ram through President Bush's nominees and Republicans accused Democrats of obstructionism.

"We will vote on the judges today. I'm not going to put up with any more obstructionism," said the committee's chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, banging his gavel.

Cook was nominated in May 2001 but never received a hearing in the Democratic-controlled Senate. She was renominated in January and endured a 12-hour hearing later that month.

Democrats protested that Hatch, a Utah Republican, was rushing through nominees. They said they wanted another hearing on Cook, but Hatch refused. In protest, most committee Democrats abstained from the vote.

Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., denounced Cook as an extremist dedicated to helping big business without realizing that her decisions hurt "real people."

"She has said she simply interprets the law as she sees fit, but her opinions consistently work unbearable hardship on the individuals who come before her," he said.

Other Democrats said they had been impressed both with Cook's candor in answering their questions and with the fact that Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine, a GOP committee member, supported her so ardently.

Cook, 51, of Akron, has been on the Ohio Supreme Court since winning election in 1994.

The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals serves Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. Of the 16 seats on the court, six are vacant. Earlier this month the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-8 to approve a controversial Columbus lawyer, Jeffrey Sutton, for a seat on the same court.

No Senate vote has been scheduled on either.