Litigation

Senate Panel Advances Batch of Judicial Nominees

By Peter Hardin

A batch of 11 judicial nominees is heading from the Senate Judiciary Committee to the full Senate as a result of action today.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said about the nominees, according to a Blog of Legal Times article:

“These are not new nominees. They were all previously considered and favorably reported by the Committee. I hope the Senate will confront the vacancy crisis facing our federal courts by confirming these nominees without delay. Having enough federal judges to fulfill the responsibilities of the judiciary is not a partisan issue. The Senate should ensure that the federal judiciary has the judges and resources it needs to provide justice to Americans in courts throughout the country.”

Sen. Harry Reid, the Majority Leader, has voiced interest in holding a vote on one or more of the nominees soon. According to a Huffington Post article, the idea is to measure any real impact from an informal agreement between Democrats and Republicans to help speed the confirmation process.

The judicial nominees advanced today are holdovers from last year, and they were generally considered non-controversial picks. They were the first such nominees advanced in the Senate in this Congress.

A list of the nominees advanced by the Judiciary Committee is available in a press release from Sen. Leahy.

Meanwhile BLT blog also reported that President Obama, apparently for his first time, has nominated for a federal judgeship someone who has drawn objection from two Republican home-state senators. The nominee is prosecutor Arvo Mikkanen, for a judgeship in Oklahoma. He would be the only American Indian serving as an active federal district judge if confirmed.

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 03, 2011 (boomark / email).