Time Shortens on Agreement on Judges
- Apr 29, 2008 - comment
Just as April showers bring May flowers, a pledge by the Senate’s top leader earlier this month could bring the confirmation of three judges by the end of May.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), pressured by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and others, showed signs two weeks ago that the storm clouds over an impasse on judicial nominees might soon pass as he made a good-faith commitment to allow votes on three circuit court nominees by Memorial Day. However, little movement has since been made on the pledge. Sen. Reid and close ally Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)—who chairs the Judiciary Committee, which must report nominees to the full Senate for a vote—have been the chief rainmakers delaying action on President Bush’s nominees.
It should come as no surprise that many commentators deem the federal judiciary as broken, considering the long list of vacancies on courts throughout the nation and the Senate’s sluggish response to repair this ailing branch.
Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, sent an action alert yesterday asking people to urge Sens. Reid and Leahy to “move swiftly on—and go beyond—the commitment to give three circuit court nominees fair, up-or-down votes.”
Land highlighted the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals as one court in particular whose vacancies have been declared judicial emergencies. Vacancies now double the number of judges serving on the 15-seat court with jurisdiction over Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and the Carolinas. This is an injustice to the overburdened judges serving and to the American people, who deserve a judiciary that functions at full strength.
These understaffed courts are increasingly handing down decisions on marriage and family that bear real impact on Christians. Just two months ago, a California appeals court ruled that parents without teaching credentials cannot home-school their children. While the court has since decided to reconsider the case, other troubling decisions are likely on the horizon.
The Senate has confirmed just seven judges to federal circuit courts of appeals since the chamber switched party hands and Sen. Reid took the reins as majority leader in January 2007. That number is dismally low by almost any standard, especially since there are 11 pending nominations to fill appeals-court vacancies. Several of these nominations have languished for years.
Sen. Reid’s olive branch on judicial confirmations would barely put the Senate on par with the average number of nominees confirmed during the final two years of a presidency when another party controlled the Senate.
Several senators who are applying pressure for movement on judicial nominees have a short list that they believe should be given top priority. All nine Republican committee members joined in a letter last week calling on Chairman Leahy to hold votes on Robert Conrad and Steve Matthews, both nominated to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and Peter Keisler, a former acting attorney general who has been nominated to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Well credentialed and supported by their home-state senators, Conrad and Matthews have been awaiting a committee vote for the better part of a year. Keisler, given a “unanimously well-qualified” rating by the American Bar Association, has been waiting for more than a year.
Senators and White House administrations come and go, but federal judges are appointed to their positions for life. That makes it all the more important to have judges on our benches who interpret the Constitution according to its intended meaning, not through the lens of modern public opinion or the shifting culture. Still, every nominee—qualified or unqualified, strict-constructionist or “open-minded”—should be given the courtesy of an up-or-down vote.
If you believe Sens. Reid and Leahy should uphold their commitment to vote to confirm three circuit court nominees by Memorial Day, as well as exceed this minimum commitment for the well-being of our courts and our nation, please call them at the numbers below or send them an e-mail if you live in Nevada or Vermont.
Sen. Harry Reid, Majority Leader
(202) 224-5556
Sen. Patrick Leahy, Chairman, Judiciary Committee
(202) 224-4242
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