Litigation

Obama Asks Senate to Avert Judicial ?Crisis?

By Peter Hardin

President Obama has used some of his most forceful language yet in protesting a slow pace in the Senate for confirming his judicial nominees.

The Senate Republican minority, he wrote in a letter obtained by the New York Times, “has even been blocking non-controversial nominees ? a dramatic shift from past practice that could cause a crisis in the judiciary.” He also asserted:

?By denying these nominees a simple up-or- down vote, the Republican leadership is undermining the ability of our courts to deliver justice to those in need.?

The letter was written to the Senate’s bipartisan leadership. Nominations for 23 jurists were left hanging when the Senate recently left Washington for the campaign season immediately preceding the November elections; the Senate expects to return to work for a period after the elections.

While Republicans have blamed the president for a slow pace in filling judgeships, his letter stated that the pending nominees could be confirmed quickly if Republicans quit their blocking tactics. Obama also said the American people were being disserved:

“If there is a genuine concern about the qualifications of judicial nominees, that is a debate I welcome. But the consistent refusal to move promptly to have that debate, or to confirm even those nominees with broad, bipartisan support, does a disservice to the greatest traditions of this body and the American people it serves.

Earlier this week Attorney General Eric Holder appealed for the Senate to act on the nominations and end a “crisis in our courts” (see Gavel Grab).

To learn more about the impact of partisan politics on judicial nominations, see the JAS issues page on the topic. To learn about Obama?s record on judicial nominations and about the backlog, click here for Gavel Grab.

Full post as published by The Gavel on October 01, 2010 (boomark / email).