Hearings on Five Nominees, Two to Fill Judicial Emergencies

The Senate Judiciary Committee today held hearings on the nominations of Stephanie Dawn Thacker to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and of Michael Walter Fitzgerald, Ronnie Abrams, Rudolph Contreras, and Miranda Du to serve as United States District Judges in the Central District of California, the Southern District of New York, the District of Columbia, and the District of Nevada, respectively.

If confirmed, Fitzgerald and Du will both be filling vacancies that have been deemed “judicial emergencies” by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) presided over the hearings; also in attendance were committee members Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Senator Chris Coons (D-MD).

With 108 vacancies in our federal courts, 32 of them judicial emergencies, the Senate should move swiftly to put these well-qualified nominees on the federal bench.

For the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on judicial nominations, download the Alliance for Justice’s Judicial Selection Snapshot and The State of the Judiciary May–August 2011: Judicial Nominations in the 112th Congress.

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Senate Confirms Two District Court Nominees

Yesterday the Senate confirmed two nominees to the District of New Jersey: Claire C. Cecchi, by a vote of 98-0, and Esther Salas, by a voice vote. The two confirmations are the first since May 17th. Judges Cecchi and Salas are the 9th and 10th women, and Judge Salas is the third judge of Hispanic descent, to serve as federal district judges in New Jersey, out of 82 judges in the state’s history. With these two confirmations, there are now 107 vacancies on the federal bench, 54 of which have pending nominees. Sixteen of the pending nominees are awaiting final confirmation on the Senate floor.

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Attorney General Holder Speaks Out On Vacancy Crisis

In an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, United States Attorney General Erik Holder highlighted the vacancy crisis in our federal courts. Mr. Holder said that:

Today, our nation’s court system is in a state of crisis, with more than ten percent of federal judgeships sitting vacant. If the Senate maintains the confirmation pace set during the last two years, the result will be a federal judicial system stressed to the breaking point, with litigants waiting longer and longer for their day in court. I urge the Senate to act without delay on all outstanding judicial nominations.

There are 113 current and future vacancies on the federal bench, 35 of which are considered to be judicial emergencies by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Current and future vacancies affect 46 states (all but Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas). Eleven nominees are currently awaiting final confirmation vote in the Senate.

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

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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.

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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.

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As Judicial Vacancies Rise to Crisis Levels, the Senate Confirms Three District Court Nominees, the First of the 112th Congress

This morning’s Washington Post ran a front page, above-the-fold article entitled "Federal judicial vacancies reaching crisis point." The Post reported that "Federal judges have been retiring at a rate of one per week this year, driving up vacancies that have nearly doubled since President Obama took office. The departures are increasing workloads dramatically and delaying trials in some of the nation's federal courts."

The article contains several notable quotes from judges in overburdened districts. Chief Judge Roslyn O. Silver of the District of Arizona—which was declared a judicial emergency several weeks ago—described a "dire situation" in her district. Similarly Chief Judge Michael McCuskey of the Central District of Illinois said that he "had a heart attack six years ago, and my cardiologist told me recently, 'You need to reduce your stress.' I told him only the U.S. Senate can reduce my stress" by confirming more judges in his district. Additionally, the Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Alex Kozinski, said that as litigants have to wait up to three years in resolving discrimination claims, corporate disputes and other lawsuits, "people will lose faith in the rule of law. We as a nation believe that if you have a dispute, you go to court and within a reasonable period of time, you get a decision." Judges Silver and McCuskey are Clinton appointees and Judge Kozinski is a Reagan appointee. The article also quotes White House Counsel Bob Bauer, responding in part to the article's criticism that the Administration has been slow in making judicial nominations. Bauer says that the courts face "a severe problem," and that the White House will move nominees "at a very steady clip... We will use all the resources at our disposal to bring attention to the issue and work on a bipartisan basis."

Last night the Senate took a promising first step in returning to regular order on judicial nominees by confirming its first three judges: Paul Holmes to the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas by a vote of 95-0; Diana Saldana to the United States District Court for the for the Southern District of Texas by a vote of 94-0; and Marco Hernandez to the United States District Court for the for the District of Oregon by unanimous consent. Eight other nominees—all of whom were reported out of the judiciary committee without opposition—are also pending on the Senate calendar and should be confirmed without delay.

The full Post article is available here

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Judicial Obstruction During President Obama's First Two Years: Updated Reports

As a service to those writing about the crisis of judicial nominations during the final weeks of the 2010 lame-duck Congress, Alliance for Justice is reissuing and updating several recent reports on the record of Republican obstruction and the increasingly dire number of judicial emergencies plaguing the federal courts.

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Judicial Obstruction During President Obama’s First Two Years:
A Compilation of Alliance for Justice Reports

During the Obama Administration’s first two years, Republicans in the Senate have implemented a strategy to delay and obstruct his judicial nominations to the Courts of Appeals and District Courts, contributing to the severe staffing crisis in the federal courts. The Republican tactics are no mystery. As Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has told the New York Times, “I am amused with [Democrats’] comments about obstructionism. . . . I wish we had been able to obstruct more.” (1)

The level of Republican obstructionism during the first two years of the Obama Presidency is unprecedented, as demonstrated in the attached Alliance for Justice reports. As of November 23:

• The rate at which President Obama’s judicial nominees have been confirmed is significantly lower than it was for the five previous presidents, both in aggregate numbers (41 judges) and in the percentage confirmed (­43% of nominations).
• President Obama has seen a smaller percentage of his nominees confirmed at this point in his presidency than any president in American history.
• During President Obama’s first two years, the number of judicial vacancies has nearly doubled, from 55 to 108, whereas under Presidents Bush and Clinton, the number of vacancies declined from 80 to 59 and from 107 to 68, respectively, in the same period.
• The political motivation for the Republicans’ tactics of delay and obstruction are made clear by the fact that 16 of the 23 nominees currently being blocked on the Senate floor were reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on unanimous, bipartisan votes, and another sailed through with only one Republican in opposition.
• The number of “judicial emergencies,” as defined by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, has dramatically risen from 20 at the beginning of the Obama term to 50. Thirty states face the situation where there are not enough sitting judges to handle the case load, causing serious delays and jeopardizing justice for plaintiffs and defendants. Many of those states have Republican Senators.
• Of the 23 nominees who have been blocked from receiving final floor votes after being approved by the Judiciary Committee, 11 would fill seats considered to be “judicial emergencies.” Overall, there are 54 nominees pending, 31 of whom would fill seats considered judicial emergencies. (2)
• Senate Republicans have placed secret holds on each of President Obama’s judicial nominees currently on the Senate floor, even on those that are uncontroversial and have the support of Republican home-state senators. Secret holds have been repeatedly placed on all of President Obama’s nominees to obstruct the confirmation process. (3)
• President Obama’s nominees are the most diverse in American history. In fact, 44% of his nominees are female, doubling the rate of women appointed in the Bush Administration, and 42% are African-American, Hispanic, or Asian-American, including Goodwin Liu and Ed Chen, both of whom were rated unanimously well-qualified by the American Bar Association and who would serve on courts where Asian Americans have been historically underrepresented.. Only 18% of George Bush’s appointees were non-white.
• At the end of the Bush Administration, 59.5% of all active federal judges had been appointed by Republicans, but even after almost two years of a Democratic administration, Republican appointees still accounted for ­58.7% of judgeships, reflecting the glacially slow pace of confirmations in President Obama’s first term and exposing the goal of Republican tactics.

(1) Carl Hulse, No Reveling for Democrats, Despite Achievements, N.Y. Times, Aug. 14, 2010, available at
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/us/politics/15memo.html?_r=2&scp=5&sq=mitch%20mcconnell&st=cse.

(2) The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled an Executive Business Meeting for December 1, 2010, at which the Committee could report an additional 12 nominees to the floor.

(3) For example, on February 5, 2010 Senator Sessions placed a secret hold on all of Obama’s judicial nominees, http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/79923-reports-shelby-places-blanket-hold-on-obama-nominees. In June, 2010, NPR learned that secret holds again blocked all Obama nominees, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126528338.

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This information, and more, can be found in the following Alliance for Justice reports, all but the last of which have been updated through today’s date, and which are available online:

• Judicial Nominations in the Clinton, Bush, and Obama Administrations: Which One of These is Not Like the Others?
  
• Judicial Selection Snapshot
  
• Judicial Emergencies Report
  
• Judicial Nominees Being Blocked by Republican Senators
  
• The State of the Judiciary: The Obama Administration: The First 20 Months
  

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