Litigation

LA Times Reports on Obama?s Judicial Influence in CA

By Jason Barrett

The LA Times wrote yesterday about the upcoming opportunity President Obama has to shape the federal judiciary in California.  The president will be naming six new judges for that state, and many will be looking to see if he honors his campaign promises to select judges in a bipartisan manner and name judges with “empathy” and “heart.”

While many vacancies are expected around the state, it is unclear if President Obama will be able to drastically alter the makeup of the courts at all levels.  Russell Wheeler, a federal judiciary analyst with the Brookings Institution, commented on the president’s ability to influence district courts in California.  “This may not be typical of the rest of the country,” Wheeler said, “but Obama may not be able to do much to affect the appointing-president balance in those courts.”

Many are hoping President Obama will reverse the trend President Bush showed in naming conservative judges to three of California’s federal district courts.

President Obama’s influence will be greater at the appeals court level, with the possibility of naming up to nine judges to those courts.  With so many possible vacancies, the state’s two Democratic senators, Senators Boxer and Feinstein (right), are already screening candidates.

The two senators will seek candidates that both parties will approve of in order to avoid a filibuster in the Senate.  Democrats are short of a filibuster-proof majority by the slimmest of margins, but will likely still seek to confirm judges more representational of the population of California, a state President Obama won by more than 20 points in last November’s election.

The commissions will also look to expand diversity on the federal benches.  In the Northern District of California, for example, 11 of the 14 judges on the judges on the bench are white, with none from the Latino or Asian-American communities, both of which have large populations in that area.

Niki Solis, president-elect of the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association, made her feelings clear in the article.  “I think that is an abysmal record,” she said.  “I can’t say enough about how outrageous that is.”

Senator Feinstein explained her approach for staffing the commission she will use to make her recommendations.  “These committees are made up of highly regarded attorneys who know their legal communities well,” Senator Feinstein said.  “I am confident that the committee members will do their utmost to help me identify the most qualified candidates.”

Full post as published by The Gavel on March 16, 2009 (boomark / email).