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"Going Robe: Obama's judicial appointment strategy isn't working; Here's a better one"

By Douglas A. Berman

The title of this post is the title of this piece by Prof. David Fontana at The New Republic.  Here are excerpts: Obama's federal appellate nominees have been generally moderate, safe choices.  A majority of them have served as prosecutors (usually considered evidence that a judge might lean more to the right than liberals would want)....  Yet besides Hamilton, only two of the twelve nominees ... have so far been confirmed.... The lesson here for Obama is simple: If Republicans are going to obstruct even moderate nominees, and if Senate Democrats are sometimes going to have to break filibusters to stop them, then why keep appointing generally moderate judges meant to appeal to Republicans?  Why not try to put your own philosophical stamp on the courts? The politics of placing liberals on the bench aren't nearly as daunting as the administration seems to think...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on December 17, 2009 (boomark / email).