Second Woman (Ever) Confirmed to Eighth Circuit

This morning, by a vote of 96-0, Jane Kelly was confirmed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. She becomes the second woman ever to sit on that court, joining Judge Diana Murphy, and the first from Iowa.

Now-Judge Kelly’s confirmation is not only worth celebrating because it adds much-needed diversity to this court, but also because it is exemplary of what the confirmation process should look like: Judge Kelly was nominated on January 31, had her judiciary committee hearing on February 27, was voted out of committee on March 22 – and one month and two days later, she was confirmed. Rather than the 116 days that, on average, President Obama’s nominees wait for a vote on the Senate floor, Judge Kelly was confirmed only 83 days after her nomination. In contrast, Patty Shwartz was confirmed to the Third Circuit over 17 months after she was nominated; Richard Taranto was confirmed to the Federal Circuit 13 months after he was nominated; and Robert Bacharach waited 263 days to be confirmed to the Tenth Circuit – a seat for which his home-state senators Coburn and Inhofe had enthusiastically recommended him.

So let’s take a moment to mark the historic implications of Judge Kelly’s confirmation, and to note that we can – and should – hold the Senate to a higher standard, to end the practice of needless delay in scheduling votes on the remaining 12 nominees (including 4 women) who are ready for a Senate vote.