Judicial Nominations

Tuesday, two more federal district court judges, John Dowdell (Northern District of Oklahoma) and Jesus Bernal (Central District of California) were confirmed by the Senate. This follows on the heels of confirmation votes on four district court judges last week, and, potentially one or more votes this afternoon. Although some commentators have characterized these votes as progress, which I suppose it would be as a relative matter, it's important not to forget the Senate minority's blockade of confirmation votes in the months preceding the election: for example, Senate Minority Leader McConnell announced in mid-June that no more circuit court nominees would receive a vote until after the elections, and backed it up with a filibuster of the nominee to an Oklahoma seat on the 10th circuit in July. Further, Senate Republicans only allowed votes on three district court nominees in September. And it's not as though the votes were coming fast and furious before June. Read more »

Wednesday, the Senate confirmed Michael Shea to the District Court of Connecticut. He had been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and thus ready for a vote before the full Senate on April 26, 2012 – over seven months ago. So for seven months, the people of Connecticut have been contending with an overburdened federal court system while a minority of the Senate refused to allow a vote on now-Judge Shea’s nomination.

As an article in the Hartford Courant detailed, “Two of Connecticut's eight federal judgeships are vacant and some of a half-dozen or so semi-retired senior judges – two of whom are 88 years old – carry substantial caseloads.” The article went on to note that “The shortage in Connecticut has not been classified an emergency. But federal litigants in the state now depend on jurists from states such as Arkansas, South Dakota and Montana to preside over scores of their civil trials.” Read more »

Yesterday, the Senate confirmed Paul Grimm to the District Court of Maryland by a vote of 92-1. Judge Grimm had been reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on voice vote (Senator Mike Lee, who at the time was still protesting President Obama’s recess appointments, was the only senator to vote no) on June 7. Read more »

Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to allow the Senate to vote on 17 district court nominees. Despite the historically high level of vacancies, the significant number of nominees (12) who would fill judicial emergencies, and the fact that most of these 17 nominees were voted out of committee without objection, obstruction won the day. And, indeed, the whole session: the Senate adjourned early in the morning of September 22nd, having voted on 2 district court nominees, for a total of 3 votes on district court judges in its entire September work period. Not what you’d call impressive by any means. Read more »

In a move that should outrage even the hardest-hearted cynic, yesterday Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to allow votes on 17 district court nominees, even though almost all were reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee without objection, and 12 of them have been nominated to courts that are so overwhelmed that the vacant seats have been designated “judicial emergencies.” Many have been waiting for months for a vote on the Senate floor. And confirming these nominees would have reduced the number of judicial vacancies by over one-fifth. Read more »

On Monday, the Senate confirmed Stephanie Rose, nominated to a district court seat in Iowa. As the Huffington Post noted, with Judge Rose’s confirmation, as many female federal judges have been confirmed in the Obama Administration as were confirmed in President George Bush’s 8 years in office. As a result, the percentage of female federal judges has increased between 2008 (PDF) and 2012. 

Obama nominees have been more diverse not only in terms of gender, but also race, ethnicity and other important kinds of diversity, than nominees in any prior presidential administration. As Marcia Greenberger stated in the article, “At this time, it's beyond dispute that having a diverse set of judges improves the quality of justice for everybody.” But there is clearly more progress to be made. Read more »

It’s the last week of August, and just as millions of kids around the country are zipping up their backpacks for the first time in many months, so too the Senate will be preparing to come back into session after Labor Day. Between the political conventions, religious holidays, and Senators’ desire to campaign in their states before the November elections, there’s not much time to actually conduct the people’s business in September. But there’s a lot to do.

One must-do priority is confirming the backlog of judicial nominees – and if longstanding Senate practices were followed, this could be accomplished quickly and easily. Right now, there are 18 nominees to federal district courts around the county who have been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and are simply waiting for a vote to be scheduled. It may come as a surprise if you’ve been watching Congress lately, but the Senate could confirm all of these nominees in a block, in a single scheduled vote. Indeed, as Senator Patrick Leahy, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has reminded us in recent months, the Senate routinely used to vote on groups of nominees, as many as 18 at a time.  Read more »

Last night, a cloture vote was held on the nomination of Robert Bacharach to an Oklahoma-based seat on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. The cloture vote failed, which is to say, his nomination was filibustered.

As I mentioned last week, Judge Bacharach has a stellar legal resume and, supposedly, the strong support of his home-state Senators Coburn and Inhofe. That unqualified support manifested itself yesterday in the form of those two Senators voting “present,” rather than “yes” or “no.” Unfortunately for Judge Bacharach, his supporters’ “presents” did not count as votes to cut off debate, so a vote to confirm him cannot go forward at this time. Read more »

Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Reid filed cloture in an attempt to schedule a confirmation vote on a nominee to a federal court of appeals, in an attempt to push back against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s declaration last month that confirmation votes would, especially on court of appeals nominations, grind to a virtual halt because of the elections (the ones that are being held over three months from now, yes). The kicker: the nominee, Robert Bacharach, nominated to an Oklahoma seat on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, has the full support of his Republican home-state senators. And he was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a bipartisan voice vote. And was rated unanimously well-qualified by the ABA -- unsurprisingly, given his ten years as a federal magistrate judge. Read more »

Last week, I lamented that, in an era of 70+ judicial vacancies and 20+ nominees cooling their heels waiting for a vote, the Senate is only managing to schedule votes on one district court nominee per week. Read more »