Litigation

Judicial ?Vacancy Crisis?Not a Partisan Issue?

By Peter Hardin

Although the Senate confirmed three federal judge nominees Monday, pundits are calling for all sides in Washington, D.C. to quit partisan infighting, make judicial nominations a priority and do more to ease a judicial vacancy crisis.

“What a long, strange trip to the bench,” mused the headline of an editorial in The Oregonian about the confirmation of Judge Marco Hernandez. First nominated by President George W. Bush in 2008, Judge Hernandez is “a case study of the broken, politicized confirmation system,” the editorial said. It took two more nominations before he was confirmed:

“Hernandez made it through, but that’s hardly a credit to the Senate. Three appointments over three years to get a judge with impeccable credentials confirmed to the federal bench? That’s not advise and consent. That’s absurd.”

In a New York Times op-ed, Jonathan Bernstein similarly contended that all sides deserve a share of the blame, and that the result is grave:

“The vacancy crisis on the federal bench is not a partisan issue. Without enough judges, cases are delayed, lives are disrupted and rights are violated. There?s no question that Republicans are at fault ? but until President Obama and the Senate Democrats take aggressive steps to counter such obstructionism, they share in the blame.”

To learn more about the judicial vacancy backlog and its impact on the delivery of justice, check out this recent Gavel Grab post.

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 09, 2011 (boomark / email).