Turning Over an Old Leaf: the Senate Edition

Today is the Lunar New Year, the beginning of the Year of the Dragon – considered the luckiest year in the Chinese zodiac. 
 
Unfortunately, today was not the most auspicious of beginnings for President Obama’s pending judicial nominees: the Senate convened, and, facing 85 judicial vacancies (32 of which are judicial emergencies), confirmed one judicial nominee. One. Former Nebraska Supreme Court Justice John Gerrard, enthusiastically supported by his Republican and Democratic home-state Senators, was confirmed as a federal district court judge by a vote of 74 to 18.  Among the Senators voting “no” was Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, who took exception to then-Justice Gerrard’s vote in a death penalty case in 2007.  So much for senatorial courtesy.
 
Now, keep in mind that thanks to the intransigence of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Senate declined to vote on any judicial nominees before it recessed at the end of December. As a result, there are 18 other nominees pending on the Senate floor, ready for a vote, and sadly growing accustomed to living, some for many months, with not getting one. The numbers of nominees waiting for votes will certainly increase as the Senate Judiciary Committee schedules hearings and votes for 17 nominees who did not make it through the committee process in 2011 (and, of course, any new nominations that are made). We can only hope that this year will be luckier for all of these nominees than the last.