Historic progress for women on the bench

Stephanie Rose confirmed to Southern District of Iowa, marking historic progress for women on the bench during Obama’s first term.

Judge Rose

On Monday, September 10, the Senate confirmed Stephanie Rose as a federal judge for the Southern District of Iowa by a vote of 89-1, with only Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) voting no. Judge Rose’s confirmation highlights President Obama’s historic record on appointing women to the federal bench; in less than four years, President Obama has appointed 72 women as federal judges, matching the total number of women appointed during George W. Bush’s entire presidency. Judge Rose is also the first woman to serve as a district court judge in the Southern District of Iowa.  In addition to his historic number of female judicial appointments, 44.3% of President Obama’s appointees have been women, the highest percentage of any president.  President Clinton had the next best record, as 29.4% of his appointees were women. 

For a detailed breakdown of how President Obama compares with his predecessors in terms of the racial and gender diversity of his judicial appointees, please see the Alliance’s Judicial Selection Snapshot.  

Read more »

We’re Ready for our Close-up: AFJ Has a Cameo on “The Newsroom”

A star is born. On Sunday night’s episode of Aaron Sorkin’s new HBO show, “The Newsroom,” a member of the newsroom’s staff referenced a (real!) Alliance for Justice report as justification for doing a story on the unprecedented obstruction of judicial nominations in the Senate.

AFJ makes its cameo appearance in a scene early in the episode, when Mac McHale, the show-within-a-show’s executive producer (played by Emily Mortimer), informs the newsroom staff that, in the interest of keeping up ratings, they will have to cut several stories to make room for a story on Casey Anthony. Tragically, one of those cut turns out to be a story idea centered on AFJ’s “State of the Judiciary” report.

Season 1, Episode 8 of “The Newsroom”

Those of you with an HBO subscription can catch up on the episode here; for those without, read on for a quick transcript of the scene.

Mac: "I think you already know that starting tonight we're leading with Casey Anthony. Does anyone have a problem with that?"
(Most of the staff raises their hands)
Mac: "Alright, well we lost almost half a million viewers to Nancy Grace last week. Does anyone still have a problem with it?"
(Staff raises their hands again)
Mac: "We're gonna clear out some of these stories to make room. (Reading from a whiteboard) ‘Senate Obstruction Becomes Worst in U.S. History’."
Gary: "That's a report by the Alliance for Justice. The Senate's confirmed a smaller percentage of Obama's judicial appointees than any other Senate and any other President."
Mac: "No reason to care about that" (Crosses off list)

* * *

AFJ to “The Newsroom”: Ouch! That hurts! (But thanks for the plug.)

Read more »

Senate Returns Next Week - Nominees on the Agenda

When the Senate returns from its recess next week, the Judiciary Committee will hold an Executive Business Meeting and a Nominations Hearing.

On Thursday morning, the committee will hold an Executive Business Meeting at which Republicans will most likely delay a vote on Paul Watford, who has been nominated to fill a judicial emergency vacancy on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

On Thursday afternoon, the committee will hold hearing on the nominations of Andrew David Hurwitz, also nominated to fill a seat on the Ninth Circuit, and of four district court nominees: Kristine Gerhard Baker, nominated to the Eastern District of Arkansas; John Z. Lee and John J. Tharp, both nominated to the Northern District of Illinois; and George Levi Russell III, nominated to the District of Maryland.

The seats Hurwitz, Lee, Tharp, and Russell would be filling have all been deemed emergency vacancies by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

With 103 current and future vacancies on the federal bench, the Senate needs to act quickly confirm all 37 pending nominees.

For the most accurate, up-to-date information on the judicial selection process, visit AFJ's Judicial Selection page.

Read more »

Senate Confirms Three District Court Nominees

Today, the Senate confirmed Alison Nathan to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by a vote of 48-44; Susan O. Hickey to the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas by a bipartisan vote of 83-8; and Katherine B. Forrest to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by a unanimous voice vote.

The Senate took no action on 27 other judicial nominees currently pending on the Senate floor, 26 of whom were reported out of committee either unanimously or with strong bipartisan support and 9 of whom have been nominated to fill vacancies that are “judicial emergencies” as determined by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. There are now 107 current and future vacancies in the federal judiciary—1 in 8 judgeships— and only 7 fewer than there were at the beginning of the current Congress.

With the confirmation of Alison Nathan, the number of life-tenured openly gay federal judges has increased to three; two of these were appointed by President Obama and one by President Clinton.

For the most accurate, up-to-date information on the judicial selection process, visit the Alliance’s Judicial Selection webpage.

Read more »

Liu Withdraws Nomination

Goodwin Liu, one of the most remarkable, highly qualified, and well-respected judicial nominees in recent memory, has withdrawn his nomination to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Click here to read Liu's letter to President Obama.

Read more »

President Obama Nominates Morgan Christen to Ninth Circuit

This evening President Obama nominated Alaska Supreme Court Justice Morgan Christen to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. If confirmed, Justice Christen would become the first female federal circuit court judge from Alaska.

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, visit the Alliance for Justice’s Judicial Selection Project webpage.

Read more »

Senate Confirms Carney to Second Circuit

The Senate has confirmed Susan Carney to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on a vote of 71-28. Judge Carney was nominated on May 20, 2010, and was renominated at the beginning of the 112th Congress. She is the third circuit judge confirmed this year, and the nineteenth circuit judge confirmed during the Obama presidency. She is the first circuit judge confirmed this year who received any Republican opposition in committee.

There are currently 109 vacancies in the federal judiciary, 20 of which are on circuit courts. Thirty-five vacancies are considered to be judicial emergencies by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, eight of which are circuit court seats.

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, visit the Alliance for Justice’s Judicial Selection Project webpage.

Read more »

Movement in the Judicial Selection Process

The judicial selection process has seen new movement over the last two weeks.

On May 3, cloture was invoked on John McConnell, a long-blocked nominee to the District Court of Rhode Island, despite unprecedented opposition from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. McConnell was confirmed on a party-line vote the next day. The McConnell vote helped pave the way for confirmation of Edward Chen this week as the first Asian-American district court judge in San Francisco. In addition, the White House has submitted eleven new nominees, a considerable increase from the two-per-week average prior to May.

These developments help clear the way for the Senate to consider the nominations of Susan Carney to the Second Circuit, Goodwin Liu to the Ninth Circuit, and Caitlin Halligan to the D.C. Circuit. Stay tuned for more news and opportunities to get involved in the coming weeks.

Read more »

Senate Confirms Urbanski to District Court

Yesterday, the Senate confirmed Michael Francis Urbanski to the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia on a vote of 94-0. Judge Urbanski is the 23rd Obama nominee to be confirmed during the 112th Congress.

There are currently 110 vacancies in the federal judiciary, 34 of which are considered to be “judicial emergencies” by the administrative office of the U.S. Courts. Forty-nine nominees are pending in the Senate, 14 of which are awaiting final confirmation votes.

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, visit the Alliance for Justice’s Judicial Selection Project webpage.

Read more »

Federal Bar Association Criticizes Obama and Congress for Failing to Fill Vacant Judgeships

The President of the Federal Bar Association, Ashley L. Belleau, has authored an op-ed in the Atlanta Journal Constitution calling on the President and Congress to fill vacant judgeships. Ms. Belleau wrote that:

The fact that we don’t have enough judges to decide promptly the federal civil and criminal lawsuits in our country owes itself to the Congress and the president. . . . Both have failed to keep the process moving by timely providing capable, qualified individuals to fill judgeships as they open up due to retirement, death or resignations.

Nearly 12% of federal judgeships—93 seats—are currently vacant, and 37 of those seats are considered to be “judicial emergencies” by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Ms. Belleau writes that:

[O]ur federal court system is bursting at the seams. The phrase “justice delayed is justice denied” describes the dire situation in many federal courthouses. Judicial vacancies plainly undermine the capacity of our courts to render justice within a reasonable period of time.

Ms. Belleau also writes about the financial costs of delayed litigation to parties and to taxpayers.

Sadly, few Americans understand the impact these judicial vacancies have on their lives. Those of us who try federal cases know its impact in the continuance of cases for months, even years, without decision. Vacancies and delay add greater costs to already high litigation expenses. For business clients, these costs get passed on to customers. And when the United States is a party to the case, it means that the public is paying that higher tab.

For criminal defendants awaiting trial, it can mean more detention time, adding even more costs to the taxpayer. Just last year, the federal cost of pretrial detention alone was $1.4 billion, according to the Department of Justice.

Ms. Belleau concludes with an emphatic plea to fill vacant judgeships:

Vacancies desperately need to be filled; new judges desperately need to be added. We owe that to our citizens. We owe that to our Constitution. We owe that to the rule of law. And we owe it to the cause of justice.

Prompt and thoughtful justice, not endless delay, is what the American people expect from their legal system. It is what we deserve. It is what due process requires. And it is the most cost-efficient approach to the resolution of lawsuits in our nation’s courts.

For the full text of her op-ed, click here.

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, visit the Alliance for Justice’s Judicial Selection Project webpage.

Read more »

AFJ Releases Judicial Selection Calendar

Our 2011 Judicial Selection Calendar provides an overview of all White House and Senate action on judicial nominees during 2011. Aside from past actions, it shows when the Senate will likely be in session and when the Senate Judiciary Committee is likely to hold hearings and executive business meetings for the remainder of the year. As such, it provides the reader with an easy means of understanding the pace and process of judicial nominations over the course of the year.

You can download a PDF copy of the calendar by clicking here.

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, visit the Judicial Selection Project webpage.

Read more »

Senate Leaders Agree on Plan to Streamline the Confirmation of Executive Branch Nominees

Yesterday's New York Times reported on bipartisan legislation that would cut the number of executive branch positions requiring Senate confirmation votes. The proposal would eliminate Senate review for about 200 mid-level executive branch positions.

The bill, S. 697, was introduced by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and is cosponsored by seven Republicans and seven Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The bill's supporters say "they want to ease what they call an arduous chore for mid-level nominees trying to navigate the Senate in a supercharged partisan era."

When President John F. Kennedy took office in 1961, there were about 280 confirmable posts in the executive branch; today, that number is over 1,400. This legislation is intended to reverse that explosion, making space on the Senate's calendar for other business, such as judicial confirmations and legislation.

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), a strong supporter of the proposal, said that "we are losing very good people because the process has become so onerous, so lengthy and so duplicative... Why should there be a full F.B.I background check back to age 18 for an individual serving on a part-time board?"

Despite the bill's strong bipartisan support, it does have some detractors. David S. Addington said that this bill would give President Obama "kingly power" to appoint mid-level executive staff. Addington, who as chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney championed policies that sought to maximize executive power, is apparently wary of executive power now that George W. Bush is no longer president.

Click here to read the full article.

Read more »

Senate Confirms District Court Nominee

Last night the Senate confirmed Mae D’Agostino to the Northern District of New York on a vote of 88-0. Ms. D’Agostino was the 14th judicial nominee to be confirmed during the 112th Congress, and the 76th during the Obama presidency. Forty-four nominees are still pending in the Senate, including 18 who would fill seats considered to be “judicial emergencies” by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, visit the Alliance for Justice’s Judicial Selection Project webpage.

Read more »

Senior judges work to take up strain on courts

Today's LA Times profiles the work being done by senior judges in the federal courts. The escalating crisis in our courts has led to a crushing caseload for many courts as the Senate has been glacially slow to debate and confirm judges to fill vacancies. Senior judges are now being called upon to work long past retirement to help manage the growing workloads.

[Judge Betty] Fletcher, who turns 88 this month and relies on a walker to navigate airports and courthouse corridors, retired a dozen years ago yet still works full time, on what is known as senior status, for the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. She travels throughout the court's nine-state region for hearings and spends seven days a week poring over foot-high stacks of written filings.

As federal courts stagger under the weight of mounting caseloads and vacant judgeships go unfilled for years, senior judges like Fletcher have come to the rescue, especially in the 9th Circuit, where they shoulder a third of the legal load.

"It's kind of a double whammy," Fletcher said of the courts that have had no new judgeships added in 21 years and that have declining numbers of active judges because of partisan posturing in Congress. Nearly 11% of the nation's 875 lifetime positions are empty.

Click here to read the full article.

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, visit the Alliance for Justice’s Judicial Selection Project webpage.

Read more »

One Nominee Confirmed, Six Reported Out of Committee

Yesterday the Senate confirmed Max Cogburn, Jr. to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina on a vote of 96-0. The confirmation vote was significant in two ways. First, the Senate has up until this point only confirmed nominees on Mondays, so having two votes in one week is a good sign. Second, Cogburn was the fourth nominee confirmed this week, the most out of any week this Congress. With 117 remaining vacancies on the federal bench the Senate needs to keep confirming at least that many nominees a week to cut into the huge backlog of vacancies.

The Senate Judiciary Committee also reported six nominees to the floor. Caitlin Halligan, nominee to the United States Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia, was reported out on a 10-8, party-line vote. The other five nominees—Jimmie Reyna, nominee to the United States Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit, John A. Kronstadt, nominee to the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Vincent L. Briccetti nominee to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Arenda L. Wright Allen, nominee to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Michael Francis Urbanski, nominee to the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia—were reported out on voice votes. There are now three circuit court and eight district court nominees awaiting confirmation votes on the Senate floor.

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, visit the Alliance for Justice’s Judicial Selection Project webpage.

Read more »

Senate Confirms Two District Court Judges

Last night the Senate unanimously confirmed Amy Totenberg and Steve Jones to the Northern District of Georgia. Both judges fill vacancies previously considered “judicial emergencies” by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Judge Totenberg and Judge Jones were originally nominated in 2010, and the Judiciary Committee unanimously reported both nominees to the full Senate in December 2010, but the Senate failed to vote on their nominations before for the 111th Congress adjourned. President Obama renominated them in January, and the Judiciary Committee again voted unanimously to report them to the full Senate on February 3.

The Senate has now confirmed one circuit court and 6 district court judges the 112th Congress. There are still almost 120 current and future vacancies in the federal courts, including 42 seats considered “judicial emergencies.”

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, visit the Alliance for Justice’s Judicial Selection Project webpage.

Read more »

Two Federal Judges Call for Expedited Judicial Confirmations

Yesterday, at a Brookings Institution event entitled “Breaking the Judicial Nominations Logjam,” two federal judges voiced serious concerns about current vacancies in the federal judiciary and called for quick confirmation of federal judges.

The Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Royce Lamberth, said that the overburdened docket in his court and speedy-trial rules for criminal cases meant that “we plan to try very few civil cases this spring and summer.” There are three vacancies in Judge Lamberth’s court, and two nominees—James Boasberg and Amy Jackson—both of whom were reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee without opposition, are awaiting final confirmation votes. Judge Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, also said that he encourages judges on his court to take senior status as soon as they’re eligible so their successors can be confirmed even as they continue to hear cases, thereby reducing the burden on the courts judges.

A Senior Judge from the Northern District of Texas, W. Royal Furgeson, Jr., spoke about the vacancy crisis in Texas’ federal district courts. Judge Furgeson, a Clinton appointee, said that the high volume of cases in his district reminded him of his days as a young attorney, when he represented clients in night traffic court and cases were processed like they were on an assembly line. He said that while litigants in traffic court may face a few hundred dollars in fines, the defendants in federal court could face years in prison. There are six vacancies on the federal district courts in Texas and only two nominees—Nelva Ramos and Marina Marmolejo, both of whom are pending in committee.

For more information about the event, the Brookings institution announcement is here and an interesting post from the Blog of LegalTimes is here.

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, visit the Alliance for Justice’s Judicial Selection Project webpage.

Read more »

Obama Nominates Two District Court Judges, Four Other Nominees Sent to the Senate Floor

Last night President Obama nominated two more judges to the federal bench. Judge Timothy M. Cain was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, and Judge Scott W. Skavdahl to the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming. Mr. Cain currently serves as a Family Court Judge in South Carolina's Tenth Judicial Circuit, and Mr. Skavdahl is a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Wyoming.

This morning the Senate Judiciary Committee considered nominees and sent four to the full Senate for a vote:

• Sue E. Myerscough and James E. Shadid, nominees to the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, were reported out on a unanimous voice vote.
• Susan Carney, nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, was reported out on a 16-2 vote
• Michael H. Simon, nominee to the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, was reported out on a 14-4 vote.

The committee also held over a vote on the nomination of Mae D'Agostino to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York.

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, visit the Alliance for Justice's Judicial Selection Project webpage.

Read more »

Alliance for Justice Joins 75 Organizations to Call on Senate to Return to "Regular Order" on Judicial Nominations

Alliance for Justice has joined with a diverse coalition of 75 other organizations in signing an open letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, urging the Senate to return to “regular order” and permit swift confirmation votes on President Obama’s judicial nominees.

The letter decries the persistent pattern of obstruction in the last Congress that “led to the lowest percentage of a president’s nominees being confirmed at this point in his presidency than any president in American history.”

The 76 groups signing the letter represent a wide range of constituencies and reflect growing concern throughout American society about the crisis in the courts and the threat to the viability of the judicial system posed by unfilled judicial vacancies. Among the organizations speaking out are the National Resources Defense Council; The Wilderness Society; the Sierra Club; Human Rights Campaign; the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence; AIDS United, Communications Workers of America and Service Employees International Union.

Senate leaders have promised a new spirit of compromise and cooperation during the recent debates over rules reform. Although the Senate has confirmed 5 nominees in this session, that number does not even keep pace with retirements from the federal bench announced in the last few months. President Obama has already renominated 42 nominees who were returned at the end of the 111th Congress, and the Senate has pledged to accelerate the pace of nominations in the current Congress.

A PDF copy of the letter is available here.

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, visit the Alliance for Justice's Judicial Selection Project webpage.

Read more »

Senate Confirms Two Judges

Tonight the Senate confirmed James Graves Jr. to the United States Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit on a voice vote, and Edward Davila to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California by a vote of 93-0.

Judge Graves is the first African American from Mississippi to serve on the Fifth Circuit, which hears cases from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Judge Davila is the second Latino judge (and the only active Latino judge) to serve on Northern District of California, which encompasses much of the California coast from the Oregon border down to Monterrey.

The Senate has now confirmed five judges during the 112th Congress. There are six nominees awaiting votes on the Senate floor, and four more nominees will likely be reported out of the Judiciary Committee to the floor tomorrow morning.

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, visit the Alliance for Justice's Judicial Selection Project webpage.

Read more »