Legal News

WSJ to the Senate: Confirm Judges Now!

By Nathan Koppel

“You take it on faith, you take it to the heart, the waiting is the hardest part.”

Was Tom Petty thinking of federal judicial nominees when he wrote those famous lyrics?

We presume not, but his words still apply to those long-suffering, would-be jurists who have to wait out the Senate confirmation process. Today, the Journal’s editorial page takes the Senate to task for a confirmation rate if calls one of the slowest in modern times.

Since the beginning of the year, the Senate has confirmed only four nominees, with 4th Circuit nominee Duncan Getchell (pictured) withdrawing his name out of “frustration at the interminable wait,” the WSJ’s opinionistas write.

What kind of wait are we talking about? According to the Committee for Justice, Bush’s picks have waited 348 days, on average,from nomination to confirmation, as compared to 238 days for Clinton’s nominees.

Political gamesmanship, of course, is endemic to the nominating process. And Democrats, for their part, claim delays are due to the fact that Bush has proffered more extreme judicial candidates.

LB Readers, what do you think? Has nominating gridlock really gotten worse?

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on September 08, 2008 (boomark / email).