Litigation

Washington Post: ?Confirm Judges Now?

By Peter Hardin

Although plenty of players are to blame for delays in confirming federal judge picks, the delays are “unconscionable” and the Senate must move quickly to confirm the nominees, a Washington Post editorial says.

The editorial suggests blame can be shared by President Obama, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and Senate Republicans, whose stalls “are undoubtedly payback for Democratic filibusters of controversial but highly qualified nominees of President George W. Bush.”

“The difference today is that even nominees without a whiff of opposition are being blocked,” the editorial continues. Twenty-three nominees are awaiting Senate action, and 16 of them won unanimous support from the Senate Judiciary Committee. The editorial sums up:

“[E]very nominee deserves an up-or-down vote. But the hold-up of nominees who have garnered unanimous, bipartisan support is particularly offensive. These nominees should [be] confirmed swiftly before Congress recesses next month.”

In a related commentary published in The Hill, David M. Brodsky, a member of the Board of the American Constitution Society, says it is “Time now to confront the crisis on the federal bench.”

Among those urging Senate action were seven Republican-appointed federal judges who co-signed a letter by the Judicial Council of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to Senate leaders, according to a Think Progress blog post. Here is an excerpt:

“In order to do our work, and serve the public as Congress expects us to serve it, we need the resources to carry out our mission. While there are many areas of serious need, we write today to emphasize our desperate need for judges. Our need in that regard has been amply documented (See attached March 2009 Judicial Conference Recommendations for Additional Judgeships). Courts cannot do their work if authorized judicial positions remain vacant.”

A commentary in the Anchorage Daily News was headlined, “Partisan tactics keep courts in gridlock.” It was written by Bob Bundy, a former U.S. attorney, and Jeff Feldman, a former president of the Alaska Bar Association.

To learn more about the backlog of judicial nominations and partisan politics, check out Gavel Grab.

Full post as published by The Gavel on November 22, 2010 (boomark / email).