Federal Judiciary

WSJ on Judges Deal; CFJ Founder Honored

By Curt Levey

In the wake of last week?s Senate deal on judicial nominations, today?s Wall Street Journal joins the voices noting the desirability of filling in the blanks in the deal with the names of circuit court nominees Peter Keisler, Bob Conrad, and Steve Matthews.

The Journal editorial describes the problem:

Democrats would rather fill pending vacancies with candidates who are either their patronage choices or pass muster with liberal interest groups. ? As a compromise package, [6th Circuit nominees] Mr. Kethledge and Ms. White now look like a tantalizing way for Democrats to fulfill the McConnell-Reid deal to confirm three Circuit nominees by Memorial Day. Adding those two to Senator Webb's choice of Mr. Agee for the Fourth Circuit would allow Democrats to make good on the Memorial Day goal without confirming any of Mr. Bush's first-string nominees on the merits.

Note that Ray Kethledge is a first-string nominee, but will be confirmed as part of a separate deal, rather than ?on the merits.?

None of this diminishes Minority Leader Mitch McConnell?s accomplishment in securing the 3-by-Memorial-Day deal using the limited leverage afforded by a highway funding bill. But, as the Journal editorial points out, ?GOP Senators need to use their minority rights now to insist that Democrats honor their pledge by confirming three bona fide Bush nominees.? As to which three, the Committee for Justice wholeheartedly agrees with the Journal that ?Republican Arlen Specter has the right idea in requesting a discharge petition to confirm Peter Keisler on the D.C. Circuit, plus Robert Conrad and Steve Matthews on the Fourth Circuit.?

The Journal notes that the yet to be determined details of the Memorial Day deal have implications for the next president:

John McCain is supporting Mr. Specter's plan, and urging the confirmation of Messrs. Keisler, Conrad and Matthews for the Memorial Day deal. Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama aren't. The two Democrats are only inviting trouble for themselves if they should make it to the White House. Republicans are sure to invoke the Harry Reid precedent to derail their nominees.

The deal also has important implications for the election itself:

Republicans need to make judges an issue so voters understand that the stakes on the federal appellate courts, including the Supreme Court, couldn't be higher in 2008.

The role of the judges issue in the ?08 election is sure to be one of the topics debated at Friday?s 9th annual Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) Policy Conference in DC. Thursday evening, the RNLA honors the Committee for Justice?s founder and first chairman, C. Boyden Gray, with its Edwin Meese Award. Mr. Gray was White House Counsel under the first President Bush and now serves as Special Envoy for European Union Affairs. Upon assuming the EU post, Gray was replaced by CFJ?s current chairman, former Energy Secretary and U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham.

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Full post as published by ConfirmThem on April 23, 2008 (boomark / email).