Litigation

Senate Returns Two Obama Judge Nominations

By Peter Hardin

The Senate has returned two controversial nominations for federal judgeships to the White House because no action was taken upon them before Congress adjourned late in 2009.

President Obama can resubmit the nominations of Louis L. Butler Jr. (photo at left), a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, and U.S. Magistrate Edward Chen of California (photo at right), both of whom won votes of approval by the Senate Judiciary Committee last year.

The White House did not discuss its strategies on the judicial nominations, according to news articles in the San Francisco Chronicle and in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Senate action “does not amount to a rejection of the nominees but signals that they face at least some opposition,” the Chronicle explained. The two judicial nominees were among seven nominees overall whose names were returned to the White House.

Chen is a former American Civil Liberties Union attorney. Butler has been accused by some Republicans of liberal activism as a judge. You can learn more about Chen from earlier Gavel Grab stories by clicking here, and about Butler by clicking here.

The Senate has approved the nomination of Dolly Gee, a Los Angeles attorney (photo at right), as a U.S. District Court judge. She becomes the first Chinese American woman to serve on the federal bench, according to an article by KPCC Wire Services.

You can read more about the importance of diversity on the federal bench by visiting Justice at Stake’s issues page on the topic.

Full post as published by The Gavel on January 04, 2010 (boomark / email).