Federal Judiciary

Constitution Day

Posted on September 17, 2009
John Vile put it this way: Whereas officers in some dictatorships pledge personal allegiance to their leaders, American officers, like the President himself, pledge first and foremost to uphold the Constitution of the United States. In this way, they affirm that the rule of law is superior to the rule of a human leader...

Open Thread

Posted on September 14, 2009
I just re-wrote the blurb at the top right of the page ("ABOUT CONFIRMTHEM").

Underneath Their Robes

Posted on September 05, 2009
There's some discussion at the end of this September 03, 2009 video about attire of the female justices. It probably wouldn't matter much if the justices were to show up in transparent robes (or birthday suits), but still there is some merit in a plain black robe without frills...

Open Thread

Posted on August 26, 2009
Looks like this site was down for several days, but is back up now.

To access blog feed reader register for free. (You will also learn about new ways to read and access the freshest law blogs.)

Remembering Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Ted Kennedy

Posted on August 26, 2009
Ted Kennedy was a great champion of civil rights for minorities, for which he generally deserves praise. He fought hard against both real injustice as well as perceived injustice, and (alas) supported unlimited use of judicial means to achieve his policy ends...

Schumer Said to Be Preparing Nuclear Option, Plus Cato Commentary About Sotomayor

Posted on August 10, 2009
The Weekly Standard blog has a post titled, "Schumer Preparing for Nuclear Option to Ram Through Health-Care Bill." That blog post seems somewhat speculative, and Schumer hasn't explicity threatened it. Meanwhile, Ilya Shapiro of the Cato Institute has some comments about the Sotomayor confirmation hearings...

Open Thread

Posted on August 10, 2009
Chat.

Legitimacy of Justice Sotomayor's Appointment

Posted on August 09, 2009
I suppose that some people (not me!) will now deny Justice Sotomayor's legitimacy as a member of the Supreme Court, due to what they allege was President Obama's ineligibility. Here's what Andrew Sullivan wrote on July 29 about this: It is our job to demand all the evidence we want or need...

Sotomayor Confirmation Vote Will Probably Be Today

Posted on August 06, 2009
Looks like Judge Sotomayor will be confirmed today by the Senate. Of the 40 GOP Senators, 31 oppose, eight support (Alexander, Bond, Collins, Graham, Gregg, Lugar, Martinez, and Snowe), and one has not announced (Voinovich). Click on the name of any of the GOP Senators for their explanations...

McCain To Vote "No" On Sotomayor Nomination

Posted on August 03, 2009
Sen. John McCain's statement is here. It's a very thoughtful and persuasive explanation. I've posted links to statements by other GOP senators here. Hat Tip: Bench Memos. read more

Yet Another Sotomayor Open Thread :-)

Posted on August 01, 2009
Various GOP Senators have announced how they will vote on the Sotomayor nomination, and you can read their reasons: Alexander, Bennett, Brownback, Bunning, Burr, Chambliss, Coburn, Cochran, Collins, Corker, Cornyn, Crapo, DeMint, Graham, Grassley, Hatch, Inhofe, Isakson, Johanns, Kyl, Lugar, Martinez, McConnell, Snowe, Thune, Vitter, and Wicker...

Sotomayor Open Thread

Posted on July 24, 2009
Here's a new comment thread, i.e. some virtual real estate for you to colonize. :-) Do you think Senator Hatch is right? News reports say: "For the first time in his 33-year Senate career, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch will vote against a Supreme Court nominee...

Reminders About the Sotomayor Nomination

Posted on July 12, 2009
This blog is obviously for supporting nominees, and since we probably won't be supporting confirmation of Judge Sotomayor, there's not much point in saying a whole heck of a lot here, especially before the hearings begin. But, feel free to discuss the nomination in the comments section...

Open Thread

Posted on June 08, 2009
Comment away. :-)

Interesting Article by Charlie Savage

Posted on May 27, 2009
Apparently, there were no litmus tests, for which President Obama deserves praise.

On the Sotomayor appointment

Posted on May 26, 2009
My take on the appointment? She's the best of the worst. Judge Sotomayor will almost certainly be a reliably liberal vote on the hot-button social issues, but she's not going to play a leading role in shaping the jurisprudence of the Court (like Judge Diane Wood almost certainly would have done)...

Big Second Amendment Case Coming Up

Posted on May 11, 2009
See www.ArmsKeepers.org. I hope you all are enjoying Spring and Summer! Cheers.

Kathleen Sullivan: SCOTUS or 9th Circuit?

Posted on May 06, 2009
The subplot to yesterday?s announcement that Michael McConnell is leaving the Tenth Circuit is that he will be replacing Law Professor Kathleen Sullivan as Director of Stanford?s Constitutional Law Center. It?s hard to imagine that the ultra-liberal Sullivan is happy about being replaced by the conservative McConnell...

Obama Sticks to his Activism Pledge

Posted on May 02, 2009
This was my advice to President Obama yesterday: [N]ow would be a good time for you to clarify if you feel that you may have gone too far by endorsing judicial activism. For example, you could make it clear that you agree with Attorney General Eric Holder?s recent statement that ?judges should make their decisions based only on the facts presented and the applicable law...

Justice Souter to Step Down?

Posted on May 01, 2009
Reliable rumor has it that Justice David Souter, nominated by President George H.W. Bush but a reliable liberal vote on the Court, is intending to step down at the end of this term. Story here. Likely candidates for replacing Souter: Sotamayor, Kagen, Wood (in that order of likelihood)...

Rethinking Impeachment

Posted on April 20, 2009
Adding to a growing chorus of left-wing whacko voices, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D ? NY) called today for the impeachment of Ninth Circuit Judge Jay Bybee, who headed DOJ?s Office of Legal Counsel when it produced the ?torture memos? released last week. Frighteningly, Rep...

Levey/Shaw Debate in NYC Tomorrow

Posted on March 31, 2009
Civil rights icon Ted Shaw and I will be debating ?The Future of Diversity Under Obama? tomorrow April 1 at noon and 6 pm in Manhattan. The evening debate at Clifford Chance will focus on racial and gender preferences in law firm hiring and promotion...

Hamilton is no "moderate"

Posted on March 17, 2009
And so it begins. Let's see how long it will take before Professor Kmiec writes an op-ed explaining how legal conservatives should celebrate Hamilton's appointment to the Seventh Circuit. Update: And, of course, CNN is calling Hamilton a "moderate." Also, and to no one's surprise, Senator Lugar is praising Obama's appointment of Hamilton...

Even Dellinger Says Obama Should Go With Moderates

Posted on March 17, 2009
My latest at the Examiner. Money quote has Dellinger saying conservative judicial philosophy is an electoral winner: http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/columns/QuinHillyer/Quin-essential-Cas...

The Judges are Coming

Posted on March 16, 2009
CQ?s Legal Beat blog reports that Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy ?expects the first judicial nominees to be announced before the Senate leaves for its recess on April 3,? with ?hearings right after the recess.? Last year, Leahy couldn?t find time to hold hearings for judicial nominees who had been waiting months or years, but I guess he?s feeling peppier in 2009...

The Secret to Justice Souter?s Jurisprudence

Posted on March 10, 2009
"When the term of court starts, I undergo a sort of annual intellectual lobotomy and it lasts until the following summer." — Justice David Souter, Humanities in a Civil Society Symposium, George Washington University, March 9, 2009 (quote begins at 1:26:30 here)

Unions at the high court

Posted on March 10, 2009
As if we don't already know how many areas of life the Supreme Court can mess up, here's my latest on last month's Ysursa decision -- a win for the right side, but one where Souter and Breyer opened the door for another crack at it. http://www.dcexaminer...

Ted Cruz for Texas AG

Posted on March 04, 2009

Open Thread

Posted on February 24, 2009
Have at it, people.

Best Wishes to Justice Ginsburg

Posted on February 05, 2009
Sad news: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D965IOJ00&show_article=1. Pancreatic cancer is usually a very bad thing. Our prayers are with the Justice.

Specter to Obama: Renominate!

Posted on January 30, 2009
As reported by our friend Curt Levey, Arlen Specter is now pushing (http://www.committeeforjustice.com/blog/2009/01/specter-to-obama-renomin...) President Obama to renominate up to three Bush judicial nominees: Paul Diamond, Glen Conrad or Peter Keisler...

Filibusters

Posted on January 20, 2009
Gary Marx of the Judicial Confirmation Network notes in yesterday?s Washington Times that Lanny Davis' call for Barack Obama's judicial nominees to get up-or-down votes on the Senate floor seems ?strangely at odds? with his failure to speak out against Democrats? filibusters of Bush nominees and in support of Republicans? attempt to prevent filibusters via the nuclear option...

Renominate, renominate, renominate!

Posted on January 12, 2009
Is this a groundswell: http://spectator.org/blog/2009/01/12/nominate-a-bush-judge PS I thought I had just posted this, but it didn't seem to actually make it on site, so I re-posted. If it turns up twice, forgive me....

Case for Keisler

Posted on January 06, 2009
I know it's probably like spitting into the wind, but here I make the case for Obama to renominated Peter Keisler: http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/columns/QuinHillyer/Quin-essential_cas... Then again, the Bush administration's utter failure to use its Roger Gregory olive branch to better PR effect was a huge missed opportunity that helped make it more difficult to confirm people like Keisler in the first place...

Judge Griffin Bell, RIP

Posted on January 05, 2009
Griffin Bell was a truly great man, and he will be dearly missed by his family and friends. I was fortunate enough to meet and interview Judge Bell while working on an essay about his tenure on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which you can read here...

Welcome Back Open Thread

Posted on December 19, 2008
We were off-line for a while. So this is the Welcome Back Open Thread. All yours. . .

Weekend Open Thread

Posted on December 05, 2008
All yours...

Open Thread

Posted on November 21, 2008
Fire away.

Site Will Continue! Yea!

Posted on November 17, 2008
I have been reliably informed by Erick Erickson, major domo of ConfirmThem's excellent parent site, RedState, that this site will indeed continue as a live site. yea! Hats off to Erick. And hats off to all you readers who keep the conversation lively and erudite...

Keep This Site Going!

Posted on November 12, 2008
To Andrew, and to the proprietors at Red State: I vote to keep this site going. Even its name should stay the same, as a sort of ironic inside joke reminding everybody that we had to work this hard just to get qualified judges to receive semi-fair consideration...

A Confirmthem Blogger Goes on Sabbatical

Posted on November 05, 2008
Here's a link to Senator McCain's very gracious and moving concession speech. He said: "I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here...

Confirmthem May Soon Get Another Lease on Life --- Or Not

Posted on November 01, 2008
Well, depending upon what happens on Tuesday, it appears that confirmthem may be going into some very deep hibernation pretty soon. There?s an outside chance that that will not happen, but I wouldn?t be placing any bets at this point. MAKE SURE YOU VOTE ON TUESDAY! I have been very disappointed in Obama?s campaign, and am even more disappointed about what an Obama administration would likely do to this country and the judiciary...

Courting the right message

Posted on October 29, 2008
Today at NRO, Ed Whelan has the best summation I've seen yet (better than any I've done) on what's at stake in the courts if Obama wins. Great stuff: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YzAyNTQ3NGM3ODFlOGFkY2QwNmQ4ZGI1MzN...

Scary Obama Picks

Posted on October 29, 2008
An article in November?s ABA Journal, ?The Lawyers Who May Run America,? names Harvard Law Professor and Anita Hill counsel Charles Ogletree as the most likely Obama pick to head DOJ?s civil rights division. Hans Bader of the Competitive Enterprise Institute explains why that prospect should concern us...

Obama Would Preserve, Protect, and Defend the Constitution?

Posted on October 28, 2008
There's been quite a lot of discussion recently about Senator Obama's 2001 radio interview endorsing wealth redistribution, and implying that the Warren Court could have gone a lot farther than it did. Anyway, here are the full, unedited radio interviews from 2001...

A Couple Items From the New Republic

Posted on October 25, 2008
Jeffrey Rosen gets at least one thing right in his article in the latest issue of The New Republic: This year, for the first time since the New Deal era, a single election really does have the power to transform the Court--at the very moment that voters, rightly concerned about the tanking economy and the war in Iraq, are looking the other way...

I'd Like to Spread a Silly Rumor

Posted on October 24, 2008
There's a silly rumor going around that Sen. Obama was born at Coast Hospital in Mombasa, Kenya and that his paternal grandmother has confirmed it. Senator Obama long ago released what is known as a short-form birth certificate from Hawaii. However, he has not released his long-form birth certificate from Hawaii...

DoJ, Home of Lefties

Posted on October 23, 2008
On Tuesday I wrote this column: http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/columns/QuinHillyer/Quin-essential_cas..., on how and why the Ohio Sec. of State is getting away with condoning vote fraud. Turns out that I actually UNDERreported the DoJ bias in favor of Obama, http://www...

Powell Wants Obama Appointing Judges (As Does Gaddafi)

Posted on October 19, 2008
General Colin Powell is a former Secretary of State for whom I have great respect. But today he erred by endorsing Senator Obama for President. One of General Powell's stated reasons is that he "would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court...

Open Thread

Posted on October 18, 2008
And here's a Q&A with John McCain from Human Events.

Biden: Slip of the Tongue or He Just Doesn't Care?

Posted on October 14, 2008
He apparently thinks that Article I of the Constitution defines the executive branch instead of the legislative branch: I'm really hoping that Sarah Palin will be presiding over this guy in a few months. Probably not, but maybe.... Liberals like Biden and Obama do not understand that when they take a cavalier attitude toward the Constitution, they are taking a cavalier attitude toward the glue that holds this country together, and to the ideals that brave Americans have been shedding blood for over the course of hundreds of years...

Biden Lied... and Erred Politically, Too

Posted on October 07, 2008
At the Examiner today (http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/columns/QuinHillyer/Bidens_injudicious...), I rip Joe Biden's discourse on judges during last week's debate -- noting that his remarks were politically stupid twice over, AND that he flat-out lied...

President's Speech in Ohio Today

Posted on October 06, 2008
Here's a link to the President's speech in Ohio today. "The broken confirmation process has other consequences that Americans never see. Lawyers approached about being nominated will often politely decline because of the uncertainty and delay and ruthlessness that now characterizes the confirmation process...

Amendment Last Week

Posted on October 05, 2008
In case you missed it, the Constitution was amended last week. See here. The amendment is as follows: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and or unusual punishments inflicted. And, of course, if reasonable minds differ about constitutionality, then the five robed ones do as they please anyway...

Open Thread

Posted on September 22, 2008
The law hath not been dead, though it hath slept. --Shakespeare

Nan Aron v. Curt Levey at American U. Tomorrow

Posted on September 16, 2008
Nan Aron ? Alliance for Justice President and 20-year veteran of the judges wars ? and I will be debating what?s at stake for the federal judiciary in the upcoming election. It?s sure to be a very live debate. Details here.

Judicial Choices Important for Safety

Posted on September 11, 2008
In this excellent column in the WSJ today (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122108996856421421.html?mod=opinion_main...), David Rivkin and Lee Casey examine how the selection of judges can have a big effect on national security. Well worth the read.

2008 GOP Platform

Posted on September 10, 2008
FYI, here's an excerpt from the 2008 GOP platform: Appointing Constitutionalist Judges for the Nation's Courts Judicial activism is a grave threat to the rule of law because unaccountable federal judges are usurping democracy, ignoring the Constitution and its separation of powers, and imposing their personal opinions upon the public...

Quote of the Week

Posted on September 09, 2008
Rather than fighting to get through a rare nominee the Democrats will accept, Republicans -- and John McCain -- might better spend their energy letting voters know the score. That's from the Wall Street Journal. Hat Tip: Nomination Observer.

McCain should go a-courtin'; McConnell is glum

Posted on September 09, 2008
Today at the Examiner I make the case that John McCain has a wide-open opportunity to use the judge issue to his advantage in the campaign. (MORE, below; I don't know exactly where the break is, but please keep reading beyond the bit about McConnell and through the bit about the documentary Advise and Dissent...

The 2008 Presidential Election and the Future of the Supreme Court

Posted on September 04, 2008
MSNBC has this report, and quotes yours truly. You can read my quotes below the fold. read more

Film on SCOTUS Confirmation Battles

Posted on August 29, 2008
If you?ll be in Minneapolis next Tuesday, join me for a screening of the soon-to-be-released feature documentary about the Supreme Court confirmations battles of 2005-06. The screening of ?Advise & Dissent,? by director David Van Taylor (?With God on Our Side? and ?A Perfect Candidate?), will be followed by a panel discussion of legal experts, including yours truly...

Palin & Judges

Posted on August 29, 2008
For us judge junkies, an obvious question is where Sarah Palin stands on the issue of judicial appointments. Sure, she?s a social conservative, but that only hints at the answer to the question. I?m interested to hear people?s thoughts on the question...

Garnett on Kmiec

Posted on August 28, 2008
Professor Rick Garnett has today's must-read post. Here's a taste: What is at stake in the abortion debate ? and, as someone who has known and admired Doug Kmiec for years, I am sorry that he seems to be forgetting this ? is not only reducing the number of abortions and helping women considering abortion to find their way to a different choice (though, of course, such reductions and help are important, and one wishes that Democrats for Life had more influence); it as about repairing the damage done to our political community, and to our constitutional order, by a decision that declared that the Constitution itself disables citizens from protecting in law the most vulnerable among us...

Open Thread

Posted on August 23, 2008
Back in February 2006, I wrote a Confirmthem post titled "Obama and Biden Denounce Themselves". The subject of that post was their joint admission that filibustering judicial nominations was unwise but they'd keep on doing it anyway. The more things change, the more they remain the same...

McCain on Justices

Posted on August 18, 2008
Teagan Goddard asks a very uncomfortable question about John McCain: During his weekend interview with Rev. Rick Warren, Sen. John McCain said that if he were president he would have never nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, David Souter or John Paul Stevens to the Supreme Court...

I Love the Wall Street Journal

Posted on August 14, 2008
See why.

ABA & O'Connor to the Rescue

Posted on August 12, 2008
Monday, the ABA's House of Delegates overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling for the use of "bipartisan commissions of lawyers and other leaders, reflecting the diversity of the profession and the community" to recommend nominees to the federal courts...

Sowell and Boitnott on Judicial Nominations

Posted on August 05, 2008
Here are some recent thoughts from Thomas Sowell: Highly qualified people, whose knowledge and judgment are much needed in high places, may turn down judicial nominations, for example, or decline other high-profile positions in government, if that means risking having outstanding reputations for integrity that they have built up over a lifetime be dragged through the mud in televised confirmation hearings conducted like Roman circuses...

Best Wishes to Bob Novak

Posted on August 04, 2008
As many of you probably know, Bob Novak retired from journalism this week. His medical condition is dire. I think it's very safe to say that everyone at confirmthem (including commenters, bloggers, the owners, the webmaster, and the janitor) all wish Mr...

Bush Capitulates

Posted on August 01, 2008
In my column at today's Examiner, I look at the strange nomination of Anthony Trenga to the nation's most important federal district court (most important because it handles so many national security cases). Does Bush have Stockholm Syndrome?

Pratter Out, Diamond In

Posted on July 24, 2008
Per a deal worked out by Sens. Specter and Casey and ratified by the White House, the nomination of Gene Pratter to the Third Circuit was withdrawn, and U.S. District Court Judge Paul Diamond was named in her place late today. The deal also includes the nomination today of four district court judges for Pennsylvania: C...

Reid on Confirming Judicial Nominees: "It's Not a Big Issue"

Posted on July 19, 2008
The cover story in the most recent issue of the Journal of the American Bar Association features the lack of judges on the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (see image at right). Judicial nominees wait for years, while their home-state Senators beg for hearings, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says "it's not a big issue...

Bob Barr is Helping Barack Obama

Posted on July 18, 2008
Former Republican Bob Barr is the Libertarian nominee for President. He had a column yesterday in the Wall Street Journal titled "Judges Are No Reason to Vote for McCain". I wish I had time to list all of the fallacies in Barr's column. Let's start with this one: "Mr...

More by Me on Judges

Posted on July 18, 2008
Here's my latest at The Washington Examiner. Short version: Specter and company have a good plan for fairness on judicial nominations, and it is timely, considering that Robert Conrad of North Carolina has waited a whole year, exactly, for the courtesy of a hearing...

Interesting Poll Result

Posted on July 18, 2008
From a Quinnipiac poll: The Supreme Court has recently ruled that a mandatory death penalty for child rape is unconstitutional. Do you favor or oppose the death penalty for persons convicted of child rape? 55% favor, 38% oppose. I'm not sure which way I'd answer this question, but I certainly don't think it's a "cruel" punishment for the kind of thing that happened in Kennedy v...

Senate GOP Calls for Hearings on Nominees, Others Call for Diversity on SCOTUS

Posted on July 15, 2008
Senator Specter yesterday led a group of eight GOP Senators in a meeting about judicial nominations. Professor John McGinnis of Northwestern Law School participated. According to news reports: McGinnis said that by delaying or refusing to provide hearings for plausibly qualified federal court nominees, the Judiciary Committee is likely to harm the quality of the judiciary...

Judges as Campaign Issue

Posted on July 11, 2008
My latest at the Examiner, here.

No to O'Neill

Posted on July 09, 2008
Intellectual integrity requires that when we conservatives repeatedly say that what matters for a judicial nominee is qualifications and integrity, we should be willing to put our money where our mouths are by refusing to support nominees who don't pass the smell test...

Are You Friggin Kidding Me?

Posted on July 07, 2008
?[The appointment of Justice Kennedy to the Supreme Court] turned out to be successful beyond Reagan's wildest dreams. ? Kennedy was exactly what Reagan thought ? ?a true conservative.?? ? David Broder, Washington Post (7/6/08) Broder?s thesis is that putting Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court was successful beyond Reagan's wildest dreams because Kennedy ?has turned out to be its single most influential member...

read more

Posted on July 05, 2008
read more

McCain's Speech to Sheriffs And Obama's Misleading Response

Posted on July 01, 2008
John McCain made a speech today to the National Sheriff's Association. He criticized the justices who decided the recent child rape case, asserting that those five justices substituted: their judgment for that of the people of Louisiana, their legislators, their governor, the trial judge, the jury, the appellate judge, and the other four justices of the Supreme Court...

So, Will Anyone Retire?

Posted on June 30, 2008
Not to falsely raise anybody's hopes, but.... will any of the Justices retire now that the term is over? I still say there's a chance. Stevens or Souter could let the 4th of July holiday pass, and then: Whammo. Drop a media bomb. If so, you can probably say hello to Justice Consuelo Callahan...

George Will's Question for Clinging Conservatives

Posted on June 27, 2008
George Will wrote today: The more McCain talks -- about wicked "speculators," about how he reveres ANWR as much as the Grand Canyon, about adjusting the planet's thermostat, etc. -- the more conservatives cling to judicial nominees as a reason for supporting him...

My Take on Heller: Bush Got Slapped

Posted on June 27, 2008
Read it here. Short version: By refusing to remand the case to lower courts, as the Bush brief had requested, Scalia took power away from judges and left it where it belongs, in the text of the Constitution.

Scalia's Opinion, Roberts' Majority

Posted on June 26, 2008
Today's opinion in the Heller case is classic Scalia. Founded on a profound and in-depth historical analysis loaded with detail, Scalia's opinion defines originalism. For 54 pages of rhetorical flourish, he constructs an overwhelming argument and disposes in detail of the dissenters' "wrong headed" contentions...

Heller Decision, WaPo Editorial on Confirmations

Posted on June 26, 2008
Here's today's Second Amendment decision. Senator Obama's three model justices dissented. (UPDATE: and here's reaction from the presidential candidates). And today the Washington Post has an editorial on confirmations. According to the Post, counting all pending judicial and non-judicial nominations, "Altogether, 394 nominees have waited a combined 52,122 days for confirmation...

White House Issues Statement

Posted on June 25, 2008
Here's what President Bush said today following confirmation of Helene White and Raymond Kethledge: Since the beginning of the 110th Congress, the Senate has confirmed only 10 circuit court nominees. In the last two years of the past three Administrations, the Senate has confirmed an average of 17 circuit court judges...

Kennedy v. The Constitution

Posted on June 25, 2008
Justice Kennedy wrote the opinion today in Kennedy v. Louisiana, banning capital punishment for someone who rapes a child. It will be a happy day when Justice Kennedy is no longer able to assault the Constitution in this way. I concur with the dissenting opinion in this case (not that the opinion of a mere citizen matters)...

Where is the Friggin' White House??!!!????

Posted on June 25, 2008
From the very beginning of this administration's judge wars, the administration has been AWOL when it comes to actually fighting for its own nominees. Instead, it has consistently left the work up to the Senate, offering way too little support and sometimes even undermining Senate negotiators...

Two Circuit Court Nominees Confirmed Including One Nominated by Clinton

Posted on June 24, 2008
Congratulations to Raymond Kethledge who was confirmed to the Sixth Circuit today. Helene White was also confirmed today, and perhaps President Bush will now appoint her to the Sixth Circuit. Bush's decision to nominate her was an extremely generous act of bipartisanship, on a par with President Bush's nomination of Roger Gregory to the Fourth Circuit...

Open Thread!

Posted on June 22, 2008
Sorry I haven't been starting open threads as regularly as I used to. Here's a quote from George Washington from May 14, 1787 as he opened the constitutional convention in Philadelphia: If to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the event is in the hand of God...

Richard Bennett

Posted on June 20, 2008
Can any readers out there tell me anything about Maryland federal district judge Richard Bennett, http://www.mdd.uscourts.gov/publications/JudgesBio/Bennett.htm, in terms of how conservative/textualist/originalist he may or may not be? Thanks.

What a GOP Senator Should Say

Posted on June 19, 2008
BoBo was kind enough to link to it in the threads under my last post, but I now take the opportunity to elevate to a new thread my latest Spectator column, here, about the message the GOP senators ought to be driving home on the Senate floor. It is meant as a supplement to the admirable efforts of McConnell, Specter, and others...

Spitting Into a Maryland Wind

Posted on June 17, 2008
Just to make sure we don't forget another good man who the Dems are holding up for no good reason, we at the Washington Examiner today take up the case of Rod Rosenstein (here). Our sister publication in Baltimore did the same last week, here.

Boumediene v. Bush

Posted on June 14, 2008
Secretary of War Elihu Root once said that, ?as near as I can make out the Constitution follows the flag - but doesn't quite catch up with it.? Apparently, it is closing in. Today, U.S. and allied troops are on the ground fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan...

Be Ready, Mr. President

Posted on June 10, 2008
Forgive the rank mischief-making, but I posted this at the American Spectator blog yesterday, and it really belongs here, too: Memo to President Bush: As the Supreme Court winds down its term in the next three weeks, your administration better be ready...

McConnell Not Satisfied with Today?s Confirmations

Posted on June 10, 2008
The Senate confirmed three district court nominees today: Mark Davis of Virginia and Stephen Limbaugh and David Kays of Missouri. Sen. McConnell took the opportunity to chastise the Democrats about their obstruction of circuit nominees and to again make good on his pledge to slow down the Senate until the obstruction is eased...

This day in Confirm Them History

Posted on June 09, 2008
William H. Pryor, Jr. was confirmed as judge to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. So, let us raise a virtual glass of Blanton's to Judge Pryor on this the third anniversary of his confirmation as a federal-appellate judge. (Cross-posted on Southern Appeal)

Good Summation of Current Situation

Posted on June 09, 2008
Our friend Curt Levey has done an excellent summation (here) of the current state of affairs in the judge battles. An excellent, thorough rundown.

Maybe I'm Just Picky, But....

Posted on June 09, 2008
Former Supreme Court Justice O'Connor has a new web site to indoctrinate the young teach kids about the judicial branch. Her web site's definition of "Judicial Review" is as follows: Judicial Review ? This is the power of the courts to declare laws or actions of the local, state, or national government invalid if the courts decide these laws or actions are unconstitutional (emphasis added)...

Sandy Froman on Judicial Nominations

Posted on June 08, 2008
Former NRA President Sandy Froman wrote a June 6 column for Townhall, titled McConnell Halts Senate Over Judges. Here's an excerpt: [C]onservative Antonin Scalia was confirmed to the Supreme Court 98-0, and liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg was confirmed 96-3...

McConnell Takes Next Step

Posted on June 06, 2008
Hail to McConnell for continuing his efforts. Here is from a Roll Call article elaborating on what he did yesterday to keep up the fight: : Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday morning that he would continue procedural tactics to delay action on the global warming bill unless Democrats consider President Bush?s judicial nominations...

Two and a quarter cheers for McConnell

Posted on June 05, 2008
I was swamped with straight journalism work yesterday and thus derelict in commenting on McConnell's work yesterday to highlight the judicial nominations issue. I must applaud McConnell for stepping up to the plate. If I had had time yesterday, I would have praised him to high heaven...

McCain on CA Ballot Initiative

Posted on June 04, 2008
As the California initiative enshrining the traditional definition of marriage in the state Constitution qualified for the November ballot, John McCain took the opportunity to emphasize the undemocratic nature of judicial activism: I welcome the news that the people of California will have the opportunity to decide on the question of the definition of marriage, rather than having that decision made by judicial fiat as the California Supreme Court asserted in their recent ruling...

Seante Shutdown

Posted on June 04, 2008
Senate Republicans, angry over the pace of confirming President Bush?s judicial nominees, tied up the floor Wednesday to force Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to schedule more confirmation votes. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) objected on the Senate floor to Reid?s efforts to speed debate on climate change by forcing the clerk to read a 500-page substitute amendment...

Chavez on Judicial Nominations

Posted on May 30, 2008
Linda Chavez has a May 30 column about picking judges. Here's a sample: Ironically, the only candidate whose primary concern is the law is the one candidate who isn't a lawyer: John McCain. He says he wants ?jurists of the highest caliber, who know their own minds, and know the law, and know the difference...

Examiner on Reid's broken promise

Posted on May 28, 2008
Today's Examiner editorial (here) takes Harry Reid and Patrick Leahy to task, quite strongly, for their lies and hypocrisy.

Hatch laments Bizarro World

Posted on May 24, 2008
Senator Hatch scolded ?Democratic leaders?—with initials HR and PJL I presume—for breaking their commitment and frequently twisting the truth. Hatch noted that the judicial confirmation process reminds him of Bizarro World, ?where up is down, right is left...

McConnell: Reid Fails the Lott Standard

Posted on May 22, 2008
On the Senate floor today, Sen. McConnell eloquently explained that Sen. Reid has failed to live up to the standard of commitment set by then-Majority Leader Lott, who made good on his promise to get up-or-down votes for controversial 9th Circuit Clinton nominees Paez and Berzon...

Cornyn Denounces Reid

Posted on May 22, 2008
Sen. John Cornyn released a statement this afternoon decrying Majority Leader Reid?s failure to live up to his promise to confirm three circuit nominees before the Memorial Day recess, which begins Saturday. Cornyn notes that Reid could easily have kept his promise ? think Matthews, Conrad and Keisler ? and warns that there will be repercussions...

Judges MATTER!!!!

Posted on May 21, 2008
[Cross posting at Southern Appeal AND The American Spectator blog] K-Lo at NRO noted this first, but this confirms what I have insisted again and again, and what all of you good readers of this site have also insisted and known in your very marrows: Our voters care, deeply, about judges...

McConnell Pledges Fight

Posted on May 21, 2008
A good GOP Senate source reports today that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell addressed the entire Republican Conference (I think it was yesteray; maybe this morning; am unclear on the timing) about the judge-fight issue. McConnell is said to have been very insistent that he would not let Majority Leader Reid's broken promise go unpunished, and that he will be prepared to take significant action when Congress returns from its Memorial Day break if Reid has not lived up to his pledge...

Hail to Specter

Posted on May 20, 2008
I have to hand it to Arlen Specter. The man is undergoing chemo again, and visibly not feeling well, and yet he is fighting like a Spartan to spotlight the Dems' obstructionism on judges. His speech yesterday on the Senate floor was strong. I watched most of it, and read all of it...

Agee Confirmed, Reid Blames GOP For Delays on Other Nominations, Specter Ticked Off

Posted on May 20, 2008
Today, the Senate confirmed G. Steven Agee of Virginia to the Fourth Circuit by a vote of 96-0 (not voting were Senators McCain, Obama, and Clinton, as well as Senator Kennedy who has our get-well wishes). Incidentally, in related news, ?Virginia Attorney General Robert F...

Reid Blames GOP for Failure to Meet His Promise

Posted on May 19, 2008
Of course this is disingenuous as hell, but it is exactly what I predicted from the very start. If the GOP doesn't "shut down the Senate" over this, they have no spines. Personally, I think the best time to "shut down the Senate" would be either right after Agee gets confirmed, or else AFTER Bush vetoes the Farm Bill, with the shutdown making it impossible for the Senate to override the farm bill in time...

Breaking News....

Posted on May 16, 2008
This just in from California: the state supreme court has just decided that the words "man" and "woman" each apply equally to people of both sexes, and are therefore completely interchangeable words. Any non-compliant state government document shall be burned forthwith and post haste...

Judges Issue in '08 Election

Posted on May 15, 2008
This afternoon, I will be on a panel at the National Press Club entitled "Election 2008: What the Media Isn't Telling You." I?ll be discussing the role of the judges issue in the ?08 election, the prospects for Supreme Court personnel changes, and the current judges fight in the Senate...

Barack Obama v. The Father of the Bill of Rights

Posted on May 12, 2008
Do you know who the "Father of the Bill of Rights" was? Everyone knows that George Washington was the "Father of Our Country." And James Madison is renowned as the "Father of the Constitution." But who was the "Father of the Bill of Rights"? James Madison was instrumental in getting the Bill of Rights adopted, but many historians give primary credit to George Mason, who developed the ideas in the Bill of Rights, and agitated for their inclusion in the Constitution...

What About William Smith??

Posted on May 09, 2008
Does anybody have a good idea of what the political prospects are for First Circuit nominee William Smith? He was once chief of staff for Chafee; does that make him more acceptable to Dems, or does it mean that Whitehouse will block him because his Whitehouse's campaign against Chafee got pretty nasty? I'm all for getting confirmed ANY nominee actually chosen by the Bush White House, even if they aren't sperb conservatives...

Stoned

Posted on May 08, 2008
Howard Bashman has a roundup of reactions to John McCain's recent speech about judicial nominations, including a column in the Chicago Tribune by Geoffrey Stone. Professor Stone asserts that McCain is "ignorant" because McCain does not unquestioningly admire judges (like Justice Stevens) who were appointed by GOP presidents...

Oliver Wendell Holmes v. Louis Brandeis

Posted on May 08, 2008
Earlier today, I was reading over John McCain's excellent speech in 1987 supporting the Bork nomination (hat tip to Powerline). After McCain's speech, Senator Lloyd Bentsen explained his opposition to the Bork nomination, and Bentsen said: "I happen to agree with a former Supreme Court Justice named Louis Brandeis that the makers of the Constitution 'conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone---the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men...

My Take on McCain's Speech

Posted on May 08, 2008
I spend a lot of time nitpicking McCain's speech, and I stand by my nitpicks -- but overall, it gets a good grade, here.

New Nominee

Posted on May 08, 2008
U.S. District Judge Glen Conrad was nominated today to the Fourth Circuit. There are now two Conrad nominations pending for the Fourth Circuit, the other being that of Judge Robert Conrad. read more

Some More Stuff from McCain

Posted on May 06, 2008
In addition to the McCain speech I recently posted, people also might be interested in the following three documents that Manny Miranda kindly emailed today (all in pdf format): 1) A list of people on McCain's new "Justice Advisory Committee." 2) A letter (dated last year) from Judge Charles Pickering regarding the Gang of 14 deal...

John McCain's Speech This Morning on Judicial Nominations

Posted on May 06, 2008
Here's the full text of Sen. McCain's very good speech this morning at Wake Forest University in North Carolina: Thank you, Ted, and thank you all very much. Dr. Hatch, I'm grateful for your invitation to this great university. And Senator Richard Burr, thank you for that warm welcome to North Carolina and to Wait Chapel...

Three Cheers for Bernard Amyot

Posted on May 04, 2008
Who is Bernard Amyot? He's president of the Canadian Bar Association. And Canada is getting ready for only its second-ever public hearing to feature a Supreme Court nominee. According to Amyot, "A judge's personal beliefs should be off limits." Here's an extended excerpt from Amyot's May 4 column in the Toronto Star: Our concern is that the partisan nature of Parliament lends itself to the demonstration of political agendas...

"McCain to talk judges in North Carolina"

Posted on May 01, 2008
CNN"s Political Ticker has this report: On the day Democrats hold a crucial primary in North Carolina, John McCain will venture to the Tar Heel State to lay out his vision on what kind of judges he would appoint to the bench. The McCain campaign tells CNN's Dana Bash the Arizona senator will deliver a speech next Tuesday at Wake Forrest University designed to help bolster his standing among conservatives with regard to the issue of judges...

Excellent New Blog on State Legal Reform

Posted on May 01, 2008
The American Justice Partnership is an amazing coalition of organizations working on legal / tort reform at the state level. Dan Pero, the organization's President recently launched a new blog. I've checked it out, and it looks pretty good. It's definitely a resource for anyone who is interested in legal reform...

Specter, McConnell Send Letter

Posted on April 29, 2008
Without comment, I post this letter, sent today: April 29, 2008 The Honorable Harry Reid The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy Majority Leader Chairman United States Senate Senate Committee on the Judiciary S-221 Capitol Building 224 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, D...

Fight, Fight, Fight

Posted on April 25, 2008
That's what I recommend in my column today (here) at the Washington Examiner. Notice the poll numbers. It's incredible to me that we keep finding ways to lose.

GOP Senators React as Leahy Guts Judges Deal

Posted on April 24, 2008
All nine Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have joined the chorus calling on Sens. Pat Leahy and Harry Reid to show good faith in implementing their agreement with Minority Leader McConnell to confirm three circuit court nominees by Memorial Day...

Ledbetter Nonsense

Posted on April 23, 2008
People for the American Way (PFAW) is currently running radio ads against Sen. Norm Coleman because Coleman helped confirm Justice Alito, who in turn later wrote the Supreme Court?s opinion in Ledbetter v. Goodyear. The fact is that the Court?s Ledbetter decision was perfectly reasonable...

WSJ on Judges Deal; CFJ Founder Honored

Posted on April 23, 2008
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...

McCain, Obama, & Clinton Respond

Posted on April 21, 2008
Senator Specter has released the responses of Sens. McCain, Obama, and Clinton to his letter inquiring about their position on his proposed petition to discharge Peter Keisler, Bob Conrad, and Steve Matthews from the Judiciary Committee.

Santorum, Harrison, Obama and Clinton on Judicial Nominees

Posted on April 21, 2008
Rick Santorum wrote this today: Many conservatives have given McCain poor marks for his involvement in the Gang of 14. I was in leadership pushing hard for a showdown with the Democrats on using the "Constitutional Option" to end their filibuster of judicial nominations...

Weeken Open Thread

Posted on April 18, 2008
Have a great Saturday and Sunday. And don't miss Courting Disaster by Jonah Goldberg.

Justice Stevens Says the Fifth Amendment is Unconstitutional

Posted on April 17, 2008
In 1976, Justice Stevens wrote: The Fifth Amendment, adopted at the same time as the Eighth, contemplated the continued existence of the capital sanction by imposing certain limits on the prosecution of capital cases. But this week, he wrote: I have relied on my own experience in reaching the conclusion that the imposition of the death penalty represents "the pointless and needless extinction of life ...

Keisler Not Mentioned

Posted on April 15, 2008
From the colloquy, it is clear to me that Helene White, the Dem, will be one of the nominees moved. McConnell seems insistent on both Conrad and Matthews. If there are only three before Memorial Day, I think it likely that those will be the three. Keisler wasn't mentioned at all...

Some Progress on Judges?

Posted on April 15, 2008
The decision by Senate Republicans to ratchet up the pressure on Democrats to end their obstruction of circuit court nominees may be bearing some fruit. Speaking on the Senate floor, Majority Leader Reid just said that he and his colleagues will "do our best to approve 3 circuit judges by Memorial Day...

6th Circuit Deal

Posted on April 15, 2008
The White House just announced that Helene White—a Democrat and ex-cousin-in-law of Sen. Carl Levin—will be substituted for Steve Murphy as a 6th Cir. nominee, with Murphy now being nominated to the Eastern District of Michigan. Ray Kethledge remains as the second 6th Cir...

Wash Post and LA Times

Posted on April 15, 2008
Readers have been good about posting these editorials, but to make them easier to find and highlight, I promote them to this entry. Both the Washington Post (here) and the LA Times (here) are showing some serious intellectual honesty by blasting Democrats for their obstructionism on judges...

Judge Fight This Week?

Posted on April 14, 2008
Here's what I wrote at the Spectator blog. Let's work this for all it's worth.

Fight For Puryear

Posted on April 12, 2008
In yesterday's column in the Washington Examiner, I tell of how the Dems are now reaching down to the district court level to block nominees. This one is worth a fight.

Weekend Open Thread

Posted on April 12, 2008
Ed Whelan recently spoke at Harvard about the judicial nomination and confirmation process, and you can click here for a news report about it. Following is a brief excerpt, but read the whole news report: "McCain knows judges shouldn't be legislating," Whelan said...

Happenings Today in the Senate

Posted on April 10, 2008
From Congressional Quarterly: "GOP Senators Threaten Blockade Unless More Appeals Court Nominees Get Votes" Congratulations to Catharina Haynes, who today became the first appeals court nominee confirmed this year. Also, congratulations to Senator Specter for advocating a strict timetable setting a time limit, after a nomination is submitted, for SJC hearings, committee votes and final floor votes to be held...

The Constitution's New Clothes

Posted on April 08, 2008
Unfortunately, judicial nominees in the United States are interrogated by the Senate to make sure they see nonexistent policies in the Constitution, as in the old fairy tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes": Nobody wished to let others know he saw nothing, for then he would have been unfit for his office or too stupid...

Wisconsin Gets Funded

Posted on April 07, 2008
On John Fund's excellent column on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, see here.

Specter Interview

Posted on April 06, 2008
The Senate Judiciary Committee okayed a circuit court nominee last Thursday, but that committee is still way behind. After the meeting on Thursday, Senator Specter had this to say: In an interview with The Hill on Thursday, Specter said it was ?a possibility? that the GOP would object to motions that allow routine business to proceed on the floor, a move that would stifle Senate action and effectively bring the chamber to a halt...

Catholics, Jews, and the SJC Showdown

Posted on April 04, 2008
When Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy was confronted this morning by GOP colleagues fed up with his obstruction of circuit court nominees, the Chairman?s legendary thin skin was on display. Leahy became flustered and, when asked why 4th Circuit nominee Robert Conrad had not received a hearing, accused the staunch Catholic nominee of being ?anti-Catholic...

Pryor Restraint

Posted on April 04, 2008
In this post (http://www.southernappeal.org/index.php/archives/2420) from Southern Appeal, I note my today's column from the Washington Examiner, which pays homage to Judge Bill Pryor's recent essay in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. Short version: Again, Pryor distinguishes himself, while the hypocrisy of the left is exposed...

Hatch Presses His Point on Judges

Posted on April 03, 2008
Sen. Orrin Hatch expanded on his op-ed in Monday?s NRO with a floor speech yesterday, again emphasizing both the shamefully slow pace of judicial hearings and confirmations and Judiciary Chairman Leahy?s hypocrisy on the issue. As part of his remarks, Sen...

Specter and McConnell on the SJC Stoppage

Posted on April 02, 2008
Sen. Specter is talking about shutting down the Senate to get some action in the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) on judicial nominations, according to the Wall Street Journal. There's a thread about that at Volokh Conspiracy. Sen. McConnell is also annoyed: Three months into the New Year, the Senate has not confirmed a single judicial nominee of any kind, and it?s held only one hearing on a circuit nominee since September of last year...

Specter and McConnell on the

Posted on April 02, 2008
Sen. Specter is talking about shutting down the Senate to get some action on judicial nominations according to the Wall Street Journal. There's a thread about that at Volokh Conspiracy. Sen. McConnell is also annoyed: Three months into the New Year, the Senate has not confirmed a single judicial nominee of any kind, and it?s held only one hearing on a circuit nominee since September of last year...

Riley v. Kennedy Podcast

Posted on April 02, 2008
The Federalist Society has an excellent podcast up concerning the Supreme Court case of Riley v. Kennedy, featuring future Supreme Court justice (and, more importantly, fraternity brother of the fedster), Kevin Newsom. Check it out. It is always a treat listening to Kevin discuss complex legal issues...

Ocean-Front Property Available in Utah

Posted on March 31, 2008
Senator Hatch placed this advertisement today in National Review: So far in the 110th Congress, we have confirmed 31 district-court and just six appeals-court nominees for President Bush. Simply meeting the historical average will require confirming 44 district-court and nine appeals-court nominees in the next several months...

Weekend Open Thread

Posted on March 28, 2008
Here's one of those horrible "originalist" judges, irretrievably stuck in the past. I hope you get a laugh out of it. The judge is portrayed by Rowan Atkinson, from the British TV series "Not the Nine O'Clock News." read more

Feddie v. Publius: On Original Meaning and the Second Amendment

Posted on March 27, 2008
Dearest Publius: While it is true that the "colonial era has passed," the colonial Constitution is still with us. You may recall that "we the people" entered into a compact of sorts vis-a-vis this Constitution, and agreed to certain terms. We also recognized certain natural rights "retained" by the people, some of which were enumerated...

More Cox News

Posted on March 25, 2008
Because Whacker77 and other great readers of this site continue to ask the latest on the Veep chances of onetime (brief) 9th Circuit nominee Chris Cox, it is worth noting that not only did Robert Novak tout him last week, but that today the Wall Street Journal's online Political Diary did the same...

It's Time for Congress to Fix Judicial Pay

Posted on March 23, 2008
This morning in the Washington Post, George Will turns his attention to the question of compensation for federal judges. Will points to this report by the Chief Justice, which was issued by tradition on New Years Day, but "lost in the cacophony of political news...

Kmiec and Obama

Posted on March 23, 2008
Douglas Kmiec has written a statement endorsing Barack Obama. This will probably not start a stampede from the GOP to Obama. I certainly hope not. Kmiec was an official in the Reagan Justice Department, and he was also a leading supporter of Mitt Romney (I supported Romney too)...

The Leahy Rule

Posted on March 22, 2008
The so-called "Thurmond Rule" has been described online by Ed Whelan, and Curt Levey, and also by the scribes over at Wikipedia. According to this alleged "Thurmond Rule," the confirmation process is supposed to stop near the end of a presidential term...

A Non Sequitur From George Will

Posted on March 20, 2008
In a column today, George Will says: There must be a judicial leash on governments to prevent them from arbitrarily asserting that the plain language of a statute means something that it plainly does not say. So far so good. Then he turns around and arbitrarily asserts that the plain language of the Equal Protection Clause means something that it plainly does not say: [E]qual protection ? should mean that government may interfere with a citizen's economic liberty only to promote important government interests that cannot be advanced through less restrictive means...

Snyder v. Louisiana

Posted on March 19, 2008
In the post immediately below, Quin criticizes Justice Alito's opinion in Snyder v. Louisiana. I read the case, and am not quite as upset about it. It always aggravates me when a court overturns some governmental action, without bothering to say what constitutional provision is empowering the court do so, as if the Court does not even really need constitutional authority to do as it pleases...

Alito and Roberts Blow a Case

Posted on March 19, 2008
It behooves us who have fought for confirmations of judicial conservatives to monitor the performance of those judges after they reach the bench. As this site's earliest and fiercest advocate for Samuel Alito, and as somebody who continues to admire Alito greatly and who is still happy Alito is on the bench, I must now regretfully report that Alito has written a real stinker of an opinion, joined by all the other justices except the superb Clarence Thomas (who wrote the dissent) and Antonin Scalia...

How Not To Depoliticize Judicial Confirmations

Posted on March 15, 2008
Professors Ilya Somin (blogging at the Volokh Conspiracy) and Rick Hills (blogging at PrawfsBlawg) suggest a culprit behind the recent spate of hotly contested judicial nominations. Here's how Professor Somin puts it: One of the reasons why judicial confirmations are so hotly contested is that political movements have found that it is much easier to "change" the Constitution through creative interpretation by sympathetic judges than to go through the almost insuperable obstacle of the amendment process?...

My Take on Specter vs. Leahy

Posted on March 14, 2008
Over at the Examiner (here) , I try to put into perspective Sen. Specter's admirable efforts to prod Sen. Leahy to confirm more judges. It's nothing that readers of this site haven't heard before, but because it organizes the subject into what I hope is a compelling argument, I urge anybody who likes it to try to spread it widely via links, etc...

New Fourth Circuit Nominee

Posted on March 13, 2008
G. Steven Agee, of Virginia, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit, vice J. Michael Luttig, resigned. Here's some background from Findlaw. Hat Tip: Courtwatcher.

Oral Arguments are Next Tuesday on the DC Gun Ban, and the Solicitor General May Change Course

Posted on March 13, 2008
Oral arguments are scheduled for Tuesday, March 18 in the DC gun rights case, which I previously wrote about here at ConfirmThem. Robert Novak reports today that President Bush is supporting the position expressed by the bipartisan congressional majority (including Vice President Cheney and Senator McCain), in support of the DC Circuit opinion by Judge Silberman...

175 Years Ago Today

Posted on March 12, 2008
James Madison wrote on March 12, 1833: It is but too common to read the expressions of a remote period thro' the modern meaning of them....The remark is equally applicable to the Constitution itself. This was nothing new for Madison. Here's a similar quote from June 25, 1824: I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation...

No. 44 Should Boldly Recess-Appoint

Posted on March 10, 2008
In today?s issue of the National Law Journal, Catholic University law professor Victor Williams decries the fact that the confirmation process for federal judges, as well as for executive and regulatory nominees, has become a lengthy ?Orwellian ordeal ? anonymous holds, blue slips, slow walking, character attacks and filibusters...

Don't Sit Out the 2008 Election Campaigns

Posted on March 09, 2008
Senator McCain has some truly admirable statements at his web site about his judicial philosophy and about human dignity. So don?t even think about thinking about sitting out the election in November. And if that's not motivation enough, check out this March 7 New York Times headline: "Senate Democrats Hope for a Majority Not Seen in 30 Years: 60 Seats"...

Ed Whelan Lies!

Posted on March 08, 2008
Don't miss Ed Whelan's excellent piece in The Weekly Standard titled "Obama's Constitution: The Rhetoric and the Reality." As Whelan indicates, Obama may be a genial and intelligent person, but giving him the nomination power would be a mistake. Whelan veers off course, however, at the very end of his critique...

Couple Friday News Items (and a Clip from Casablanca)

Posted on March 07, 2008
The Washington Times reports today: Sen. John McCain, in his post-victory debut before the conservative movement's top donors and leaders, will address the Council for National Policy's annual winter meeting here today...."McCain should contrast his approach to Supreme Court appointments with that of Hillary Clinton's and Barack Obama," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told The Washington Times...

Welcome Back, Southern Appeal

Posted on March 05, 2008
Our friend Feddie, who led many of us to THIS site (ConfirmTHem) from his own site, now has resumed publication of the great blog Southern Appeal: Welcome back, feddie!

Cox at the Helm

Posted on March 05, 2008
Again I take the liberty to broaden the focus here from court appointments to broader legal issues. Just as an FYI, my latest on legal matters at the Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/a-1259388~Quin_Hillyer__Investors_will_be_safe_w... The best tort reform is to avoid lawsuits in the first place...

My take on Specter

Posted on March 04, 2008
I give props to Curt, and to Sen. Specter, in my post at the AmSpec blog here. It's time again to prepare for battle!

Ratcheting up the Pressure

Posted on March 04, 2008
Yesterday, Sen. Specter signaled that he had run out of patience with the nice-guy, behind-the-scenes approach to persuading Sen. Leahy to end his obstruction of judicial nominees. Specter met with conservative leaders to plot strategy for ratcheting up the pressure on Leahy and his Democratic colleagues, released a ?last chance? letter he sent to Leahy on Friday, and spoke on the Senate floor to initiate this new, higher-profile phase of the judges fight...

Quote of the Day

Posted on March 02, 2008
Open hearings with honest debate about qualifications and experience is the way to assess these nominations. ---The Advocate newspaper, Baton Rouge (Feb. 24, 2008).

Good Luck, Jim Haynes

Posted on February 26, 2008
Every reader of this site ought to send every good wish to Jim Haynes, retiring as Chief Counsel for the Pentagon, as he re-enters private life. This is a man who had served his country literally for decades, and who gave up highly lucrative employment for the last seven years in order to do so...

Keeping Up With the Hayneses (and Cornyn and Rosen)

Posted on February 26, 2008
Former Dallas District Court Judge and Fifth Circuit Nominee Catharina Haynes got a hearing last week at the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Blog "How Appealing" has the details. Meanwhile, former Fourth Circuit Nominee Jim Haynes (no relation to the Fifth Circuit nominee) is leaving his position as General Counsel at the Pentagon...

Playing the Federalist Society Card

Posted on February 23, 2008
Philadelphia Federalist Society chapter president Judd Serotta has a good reply (see 4th letter to the editor) to a Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed which opined that 3rd Circuit nominee Shalom Stone?s ?membership in the ultra-conservative Federalist Society has raised questions...

Chilling Effect on DOJ Attorneys

Posted on February 23, 2008
Today?s Washington Post reports that the DOJ?s Office of Professional Responsibility ?is investigating whether Bush administration lawyers violated professional standards by issuing legal opinions that authorized the CIA to use waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques...

Telecoms Deserve Immunity

Posted on February 22, 2008
This isn't really about judges, but it is about the law, so I thought y'all might want to read my latest take on the telecom immunity issue: http://www.examiner.com/a-1235377~Quin_Hillyer__Telecoms_face_double_ris...

Cox Gets a Vote

Posted on February 20, 2008
SEC Chair Chris Cox, so popular at this site as a potential Supreme Court pick, gets another vote (from columnist Lisa Fabrizio) for Veep: http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12769 Great column.

No Hearings, No Nothing

Posted on February 19, 2008
One year into the 110th Congress, and there have been only six (6) appeals court confirmations. By contrast, fifteen (15) were confirmed during President Clinton?s final two years. The Hill reports: Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, asked Leahy in a recent letter to move on a number of the nominees...

Associated Press: "Obama Supports Individual Gun Rights"

Posted on February 16, 2008
That's the Associated Press headline, but let's look at what the article actually says: "At his news conference, he voiced support for the District of Columbia's ban on handguns, which is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court next month." Hmm. I guess Associated Press meant that Obama supports the inalienable right of an individual to obediently surrender his handgun to the government...

Protect America Act and Judicial Nominees

Posted on February 15, 2008
My thoughts on the parallels are over at the CFJ blog.

60 Groups Demand Progress on Judicial Nominees

Posted on February 13, 2008
Today, a coalition of about 60 groups—led by the Committee for Justice—delivered a letter to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing deep concern about the lack of progress on judicial nominees, and making it clear that anything short of 15 circuit court nominees reaching the Senate floor in 2007-08 would be remembered as ?historic levels of obstruction...

Another Expose on Milberg Weiss

Posted on February 13, 2008
Y'all might find interesting this post of mine at the AmSpec Blog. It discusses a great series that starts today in the Washington Examiner, re the class action firm Milberg Weiss. And my post favorably mentions one of favorites here at Confirm Them, Chris Cox...

Worthy Nominees

Posted on February 11, 2008
The New York Times has an editorial today about what it calls "Unworthy Nominees." Although critical of a district court nominee, the Times has no criticism for any circuit court nominee. So, how about some hearings for the circuit court nominees? Maybe hearings would reveal grounds for the Times to legitimately oppose more nominees, or maybe hearings would reveal that there are no legitimate grounds for opposition...

Quote of the Day

Posted on February 10, 2008
Anybody who thinks John McCain would nominate Koh or anybody remotely near him on the ideological spectrum is suffering from such an extreme case of McCain derangement syndrome that they?re beyond the help of even modern pharmapsychology. ---Professor Steven Bainbridge (Via Instapundit)

D.C. Gun Rights Case is Heating Up

Posted on February 10, 2008
The upcoming SCOTUS decision in District of Columbia v. Heller just got more interesting. Senator John McCain, as well as Vice President Dick Cheney, have signed onto a friend of the court brief. Together with bipartisan congressional majorities, they're urging SCOTUS to support the DC Circuit decision that struck down the DC handgun ban...

Ditto

Posted on February 08, 2008
What Ed said.

McCain on Judges at CPAC

Posted on February 07, 2008
Look, it is clear I am no fan of John McCain's, especially on judges, where I remain angry at his actions with the Gang of 14 and absolutely furious (as we all should be) with his shameful support for Lindsey Graham's smear job against 4th Circuit nominee Jim Haynes...

McCain and Bush on Judges

Posted on February 07, 2008
In a speech today to CPAC, Mitt Romney graciously bowed out of the presidential race, so as not to undermine the campaign of John McCain against whoever will be the Democratic nominee (Reagan kind of undermined the Ford candidacy in 1976 against Carter, and Romney said the stakes are now too high for such a move)...

McCain, Romney, and the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780

Posted on February 04, 2008
Governor Romney and Senator McCain have new statements up at the Federalist Society website. Here's a piece of McCain's statement (emphasis added): My judicial appointees will understand that the Federal government was intended to have limited scope, and that federal courts must respect the proper role of local and state governments...

The Senate's Man in the White House?

Posted on February 01, 2008
That's the way a McCain presidency might turn out. He'll seek nominees like Scalia and Roberts and Alito, but if that doesn't succeed, then it's anyone's guess: [B]efore the nominations are formally introduced, the way they used to do it, they would kind of run the traps of the? senators, particularly those on the committee and say, "Are these acceptable or unacceptable?" and if they were unacceptable they wouldn?t send them over and if they were acceptable, then they would move forward...

Question for POTUS Candidates

Posted on January 31, 2008
The GOP contenders were asked whether they would have nominated Justice O'Connor. You can watch the video, starting at 05:30: McCain pointed out that he's a fellow Arizonan, and he wasn't as blunt as Romney about O'Connor. Here's what I might have asked as a followup: If you are president when the next Supreme Court vacancy occurs, and you seek advice and input about who would be a good nominee, will you ultimately nominate the person who you believe would do the best job on the Court, or would you instead seek a consensus nominee who you think will best satisfy yourself and fifty or sixty United States senators? It's better to let seats go vacant than to let nominees be dictated by 41 or 51 or 61 senators...

Now That Novak Has Spoken...

Posted on January 31, 2008
Now that Bob Novak has reconfirmed what K-Lo and John Fund reported about McCain's comments re Alito, and Wendy Long independently has re-re-confirmed it, it makes even more stark the similar lapse into his real views that McCain fell into in 1999 when he told the San Fran Examiner that he would NOT favor the overturning of Roe...

McCain Wins Florida

Posted on January 29, 2008
Looks like the GOP nomination is now John McCain's to lose. His Florida victory speech is here at Youtube. I transcribed the part about judges: Government must respect our values because they are the true source of our strength, and enforce the rule of law, which distinguishes successful democracies from failed societies, and is the first defense of freedom...

State of the Union Address Tonight, Florida Primary Tomorrow

Posted on January 28, 2008
Here's a quote from President Bush's State of the Union Address this evening: On matters of justice, we must trust in the wisdom of our founders and empower judges who understand that the Constitution means what it says. I've submitted judicial nominees who will rule by the letter of the law, not the whim of the gavel...

More on McCain and Haynes

Posted on January 28, 2008
For what it's worth, see what I wrote on this at the AmSpec blog. Summary: McCain told Byron York he supported all those nominees not covered either way under the infamous Gang of 14 deal. BS. He actively opposed the superbly qualified, superbly judicious Jim Haynes...

Class-Action Firms Take Beating

Posted on January 28, 2008
The recent Stoneridge case and the high court's refusal to hear the Enron case are only a couple of the reasons I cite in this column at the Washington Examiner in noting that the big class-action plaintiffs' lawyers are taking a well deserved beating...

McCain is Bad News for Judicial Conservatives

Posted on January 28, 2008
John McCain ought to be unacceptable for judicial conservatives. Here is why: More recently, Mr. McCain has told conservatives he would be happy to appoint the likes of Chief Justice John Roberts to the Supreme Court. But he indicated he might draw the line on a Samuel Alito, because "he wore his conservatism on his sleeve...

Some Friday Notes

Posted on January 25, 2008
Hugh Hewitt has a piece at Townhall.com today, titled "Do Conservatives Still Care About The Courts?" Like Hugh, I'm for Romney rather than McCain, though McCain has many fine qualities. The Washington Times quotes McCain's past flip-flops on abortion, so it's kind of odd that McCain accuses Romney of being the candidate of "change...

Some Tuesday Notes

Posted on January 22, 2008
Senator Fred Thompson has withdrawn from the presidential race. Here's his statement. The country and the GOP benefited from his campaign; he offered voters a broader choice, contributed to a higher level of debate, and may well have affected the outcome of the election...

MLK Day

Posted on January 21, 2008
Here's a brief part of Martin Luther King's letter from a Birmingham jail (1963): One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law...

Duncans Withdraw

Posted on January 19, 2008
E. Duncan Getchell has asked that his nomination for the Fourth Circuit be withdrawn. And, Duncan Hunter withdrew today from the GOP presidential race. Speaking of withdrawal, it looks like Senator Fred Thompson did not get a very strong showing of support in the South Carolina primary today, so it will be interesting to see what Senator Thompson's next move will be...

Huckabee Explains

Posted on January 19, 2008
Fred Thompson and Quin rightfully criticize Mike Huckabee for saying the U.S. Constitution is ?a living, breathing document.? While it was certainly a poor choice of words, it?s only fair to point out that Huckabee was talking about the amendment process, not judge-made constitutional evolution...

Huckabee Wants Constitution to Live and Breathe

Posted on January 18, 2008
I kid you not. This morning on CNN, Mike Huckabee told John Roberts (the reporter, not the chief justice) that The United States has "a living, breathing Constitution." This, from the same man who said his idea of a good future Supreme Court pick would be Lavenski Smith...

New York v. Torres

Posted on January 16, 2008
I previously mentioned this strange case in which plaintiffs challenged New York's method of selecting judges as a violation of the First Amendment. Yesterday, SCOTUS unanimously rejected the challenge, and rightly so. But four of the justices (Breyer, Kennedy, Souter, and Stevens) took the opportunity to express their concern about the notion of judicial elections, on policy grounds, seeing as how judicial elections can turn judges into run-of-the-mill politicians...

SCOTUS Rejects ?Right to Live? Case

Posted on January 14, 2008
I was disappointed to hear that today the Supreme Court denied the plaintiff?s cert petition in Abigail Alliance v. von Eschenbach, a case in which the DC Circuit ruled en banc that there is no fundamental right to try to save one?s life through access to drugs not yet approved by the FDA...

Give Conrad a Hearing

Posted on January 13, 2008
The Charlotte Observer makes a good point in their January 10 editorial...."Senate, do your duty: Give Conrad's nomination for 4th Circuit bench a hearing". J. Dickson Phillips of North Carolina was appointed by Jimmy Carter, and he took senior status in 1994...

U.S. Senator Sandra Day O'Connor?

Posted on January 12, 2008
Senator McCain ought to promise now to resign his Senate seat before the November 2008 presidential election, if he is nominated by the GOP. Otherwise, the Democratic Governor of Arizona will be able to appoint McCain's successor in the event that he is elected President...

6th Cir. Obstruction and the MI Primary

Posted on January 11, 2008
Michigan is home to both the next presidential primary and the decade?s most outrageous obstruction of judicial nominees. Back in 2001, Sens. Levin and Stabenow started blocking Michigan nominees to the Sixth Circuit and they?ve persisted to this day...

Huckabee on Judges, Part II

Posted on January 09, 2008
Following is a statement by Governor Mike Huckabee that recently went up at his website. We previously had a post here at ConfirmThem about Huckabee's stance on judges, and the following statement goes into some more detail: One of the greatest ongoing threats to our constitutional republic is the ever-increasing politicization of the federal judiciary...

McCain as Nominator in Chief

Posted on January 08, 2008
Here?s an interesting post over at Redstate: "Why the idea of John McCain appointing Supreme Court Justices worries me even more than Rudy Giuliani appointing them." Check it out. UPDATE: We'd be remiss if we didn't also point out this recent McCain quote: "Can you find me one republican who now thinks we should have only 51% to confirm a judge?" Yes...

Confirm Applebaum?

Posted on January 06, 2008
The Onion has a humorous confirmation-related article. Hat Tip: John Kalinger.

Miranda Discusses Whether McCain Would be Okay on Judges

Posted on January 05, 2008
I got an email from Manny Miranda today, talking about how a President John McCain would do on judicial nominations. Some of you may recall that Manny played a big role as a Senate aide, and thereafter, on the judges issue. Recently, he's been working for the State Department in Iraq...

Weekend Open Thread

Posted on January 05, 2008
Patterico has written a good review of the recent autobiography by Justice Thomas. A former deputy attorney general of Colorado has this advice about the presidential campaign: "Back whomever you like until the Republicans choose a nominee, but if that nominee is Rudy Giuliani, back him wholeheartedly...

Is it Better for the GOP to lose in 2008?

Posted on January 04, 2008
Something to ponder for judicial conservatives: Might it better for judicial conservatives to see the Republican Party lose the 2008 Presidential elections? The argument after the break. read more