Circuit Judge Confirmed; Only Eighth This Year. Really.

Yesterday afternoon, the Senate voted to confirm Christopher Droney to a Connecticut-based seat on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Remarkably, Judge Droney is only the 8th appellate court judge confirmed by the Senate in 2011. Those members of the Senate determined to slow-walk judicial nominees are apparently determined to do so in every conceivable category. With 15 vacancies on the courts of appeal, you would think that all Senators would want to proceed to votes on the four other Court of Appeals nominees ready for a vote, out of, you know, a concern for the administration of justice. Apparently not.

Judge Droney, previously a Connecticut federal district court judge, was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in July. For a judge confirmed 88-0, a delay of four months seems a little excessive.  Sixth Circuit Judge Bernice Donald likewise waited four months for a 96-2 confirmation vote, Fourth Circuit Judge Henry Floyd waited almost five months for a 96-0 vote, and Fifth Circuit Judge Stephen Higginson waited three months for a vote of 88-0. Federal Circuit Judge Evan Wallach has been the exception this year, waiting only a month between his Senate Judiciary Committee vote and his confirmation vote. Which was 99-0.

But even by the slow-walking standards of the Senators from the great state of Obstruction, the delays on the nomination of Caitlin Halligan, first nominated to the D.C. Circuit in September 2010, are outrageous. A former clerk both on the D.C. Circuit and to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Ms. Halligan has extensive appellate experience both in government service and private practice. She has been counsel of record in over 50 cases before the Supreme Court, and argued 5 of those cases. She has the support of a bipartisan group of over twenty well-respected appellate practitioners, nearly two dozen former Supreme Court clerks, and numerous organizations. The Washington Post recently editorialized that the Senate should imminently vote on this outstanding nominee. Yet, eight months after being approved by the Judiciary Committee, no vote has been scheduled.

Along with Ms. Halligan, three other appellate court nominees – two of whom are women – are ready for votes. The Senate should schedule those votes immediately. That would bring us up to votes on twelve court of appeals nominees in 2011. One for each month. On behalf of the millions of Americans who are waiting for justice, it’s not too much to ask.