Litigation

"Bipartisanship" in judicial nominations

By Ted Frank

In 2003, George W. Bush nominated a former Democratic state legislator, the well-connected Henry Floyd, to the District of South Carolina. Eight years later, President Obama proposes promoting him to the Fourth Circuit—and gets praise for making "a rare cross-party choice."

Relatedly, Adam Liptak and Ezra Klein, in discussing the healthcare reform litigation, describes the Fourth Circuit, likely to see an appeal in the case, as "conservative." This is a vestige of long-ago days. Today's Fourth Circuit consists of eight Democratic appointees and six Republican appointees—and one of those Republican appointees, Roger Gregory, really was a bipartisan appointment of George W. Bush, who renominated a Clinton appointee in a failed attempt to prevent Democratic filibusters of his nominees. If Judge Floyd, who has the support of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, is confirmed, Clinton and Obama-nominated judges will make up two thirds of the court.

Full post as published by Point of Law on February 08, 2011 (boomark / email).