ConfirmThem

Posted at 3:55pm on Jun. 8, 2009 Open Thread

By AndrewHyman

Comment away. :-)

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Posted at 8:40pm on May 27, 2009 Interesting Article by Charlie Savage

By AndrewHyman

Apparently, there were no litmus tests, for which President Obama deserves praise.

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Posted at 11:07am on May 26, 2009 On the Sotomayor appointment

By Feddie

My take on the appointment? She's the best of the worst. Judge Sotomayor will almost certainly be a reliably liberal vote on the hot-button social issues, but she's not going to play a leading role in shaping the jurisprudence of the Court (like Judge Diane Wood almost certainly would have done).

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Posted at 12:35pm on May 11, 2009 Big Second Amendment Case Coming Up

By AndrewHyman

See www.ArmsKeepers.org. I hope you all are enjoying Spring and Summer! Cheers.

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Posted at 8:02am on May 6, 2009 Kathleen Sullivan: SCOTUS or 9th Circuit?

By Curt Levey

The subplot to yesterday’s announcement that Michael McConnell is leaving the Tenth Circuit is that he will be replacing Law Professor Kathleen Sullivan as Director of Stanford’s Constitutional Law Center. It’s hard to imagine that the ultra-liberal Sullivan is happy about being replaced by the conservative McConnell. That leads me to speculate – until I hear otherwise – that either Sullivan was forced out or, more likely, that she anticipates leaving Stanford in the near future, probably for an appointment by President Obama. Sullivan could almost surely have secured a high-ranking position in the Obama Justice Department, but didn’t, so I’m guessing her interest lies with the federal bench.

The nightmare scenario is that Sullivan expects to be named to fill Justice Souter’s seat on the Supreme Court. She is often listed among the leading contenders. My guess is that President Obama is too much of a pragmatist to name Sullivan, who has been a leading advocate of gay marriage in California, to the High Court. In that case, she may well be anticipating appointment to the Ninth Circuit, where she’ll fit right in.

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Posted at 2:07am on May 2, 2009 Obama Sticks to his Activism Pledge

By Curt Levey

This was my advice to President Obama yesterday:

[N]ow would be a good time for you to clarify if you feel that you may have gone too far by endorsing judicial activism. For example, you could make it clear that you agree with Attorney General Eric Holder’s recent statement that ‘judges should make their decisions based only on the facts presented and the applicable law.’

I guess he wasn’t listening:

‘I will seek someone who understands that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a casebook,’ Mr. Obama said during an unscheduled appearance [yesterday] in the White House briefing room. ‘It is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s lives.’

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Posted at 11:13pm on Apr 30, 2009 Justice Souter to Step Down?

By aurel

Reliable rumor has it that Justice David Souter, nominated by President George H.W. Bush but a reliable liberal vote on the Court, is intending to step down at the end of this term.

Story here.

Likely candidates for replacing Souter: Sotamayor, Kagen, Wood (in that order of likelihood).

Discuss below...

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Posted at 9:02pm on Apr. 20, 2009 Rethinking Impeachment

By Curt Levey

Adding to a growing chorus of left-wing whacko voices, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D – NY) called today for the impeachment of Ninth Circuit Judge Jay Bybee, who headed DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel when it produced the “torture memos” released last week. Frighteningly, Rep. Nadler chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. Said Nadler of OLC’s memos,

It was not an honest legal memo. It was an instruction manual on how to break the law.

What struck me is that if you change two words in Nadler’s description – “memo” to “opinion” and “break” to “subvert” – you have a perfect description of what the Supreme Court’s liberal justices do regularly when they write opinions in ideologically charged cases.

Assuming arguendo that the Nadler is right, any damage done to American law by Bybee’s memos has since been undone. Sadly, the same cannot be said of the damage done to the Constitution by liberal Supreme Court justices.

I’ve never supported impeaching judges for bad or even disingenuous legal reasoning – the charge against Jay Bybee. But if Nadler and his Democratic colleagues promise to apply such a standard even-handedly, I might be persuaded to change my mind.

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Posted at 8:33pm on Mar. 31, 2009 Levey/Shaw Debate in NYC Tomorrow

By Curt Levey

Civil rights icon Ted Shaw and I will be debating “The Future of Diversity Under Obama” tomorrow April 1 at noon and 6 pm in Manhattan. The evening debate at Clifford Chance will focus on racial and gender preferences in law firm hiring and promotion. The noon debate at Columbia Law School will focus on affirmative action in higher education.

If you’re in the area, come watch the debates. It would be nice to have a friendly face or two in what’s sure to be a hostile audience.

Clifford Chance is at 31 W. 52 Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues. The debate is in the 4th Floor Conference Center. RSVP to CCEvents@cliffordchance.com.

The Columbia debate is in room 107 of Jerome Greene Hall on the northeast corner of Amsterdam Ave. and W. 116th Street (directions here).

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Posted at 3:44pm on Mar. 17, 2009 Hamilton is no "moderate"

By Feddie

And so it begins.

Let's see how long it will take before Professor Kmiec writes an op-ed explaining how legal conservatives should celebrate Hamilton's appointment to the Seventh Circuit.

Update: And, of course, CNN is calling Hamilton a "moderate."

Also, and to no one's surprise, Senator Lugar is praising Obama's appointment of Hamilton.

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Posted at 12:47pm on Mar. 17, 2009 Even Dellinger Says Obama Should Go With Moderates

By Quin

My latest at the Examiner. Money quote has Dellinger saying conservative judicial philosophy is an electoral winner:
http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/columns/QuinHillyer/Quin-essential-Cas...

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Posted at 3:50pm on Mar. 16, 2009 The Judges are Coming

By Curt Levey

CQ’s Legal Beat blog reports that Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy “expects the first judicial nominees to be announced before the Senate leaves for its recess on April 3,” with “hearings right after the recess.” Last year, Leahy couldn’t find time to hold hearings for judicial nominees who had been waiting months or years, but I guess he’s feeling peppier in 2009.

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Posted at 12:50pm on Mar. 10, 2009 Unions at the high court

By Quin

As if we don't already know how many areas of life the Supreme Court can mess up, here's my latest on last month's Ysursa decision -- a win for the right side, but one where Souter and Breyer opened the door for another crack at it.
http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/columns/QuinHillyer/Unions-lose-a-batt...

It's also worth noting that two other big union-related cases are right now subject to petitions for cert grants: Adcock v Freightliner and Mackay v. Aircraft Mechanics. I don't have the links, but look'em up....

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Posted at 6:06am on Mar. 10, 2009 The Secret to Justice Souter’s Jurisprudence

By Curt Levey

"When the term of court starts, I undergo a sort of annual intellectual lobotomy and it lasts until the following summer."
— Justice David Souter, Humanities in a Civil Society Symposium, George Washington University, March 9, 2009 (quote begins at 1:26:30 here)

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Posted at 3:47pm on Mar. 4, 2009 Ted Cruz for Texas AG

By Feddie

Let me be blunt. If Texans do not elect Ted Cruz as the state's next attorney general, they do not deserve to live in that fine state.

Ted Cruz is a jurisprudential rock star. His credentials are beyond impressive, and Texans are fortunate to have someone of his caliber offer himself up for public service (yet again). To put it plainly, Ted Cruz is one of the most talented lawyers in the United States, and I encourage all of SA's many Texas readers to strongly support his bid to become the next attorney general of your state.

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Posted at 11:21am on Feb. 24, 2009 Open Thread

By Quin

Have at it, people.

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Posted at 3:02pm on Feb. 5, 2009 Best Wishes to Justice Ginsburg

By Quin

Sad news: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D965IOJ00&show_article=1.
Pancreatic cancer is usually a very bad thing. Our prayers are with the Justice.

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Posted at 10:44am on Jan. 30, 2009 Specter to Obama: Renominate!

By Quin

As reported by our friend Curt Levey, Arlen Specter is now pushing (http://www.committeeforjustice.com/blog/2009/01/specter-to-obama-renomin...) President Obama to renominate up to three Bush judicial nominees: Paul Diamond, Glen Conrad or Peter Keisler.

As a frequent advocate (http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/columns/QuinHillyer/Quin-essential_cas...) of such renominations, especially for Keisler (http://www.examiner.com/a-1278077~Quin_Hillyer__Judge_knot_still_holds.h...) , I wholeheartedly applaud Specter.

That said, why do I suspect a deal is in the works? Why do I suspect that Conrad and Keisler are window dressing for Specter's letter?

Note that Diamond is a Pennsylvania pick, under Specter's purview -- and a very late pick at that: http://www.confirmthem.com/pratter_out_diamond_in.

Diamond and Specter go back together for 30 years. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_S._Diamond) . And elevating Diamond also clears the way for a district judgeship for another longtime Specter insider, Carolyn Short (http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202423251503) -- who, it must be noted, has very significant Democratic ties herself. But there is no evidence that either Diamond or Short is particularly conservative. They certainly aren't conservative to the same degree that Roger Gregory (the Clinton nominee renominated by Bush) is liberal. But by appointing Diamond and Short both, Obama could claim to have met Bush's record of bipartisan olive branches on the judiciary -- withOUT really angering the left to the same extent that, say, a renomination of North Carolina's Robert Conrad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_J._Conrad) would.(MORE)

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Posted at 7:19am on Jan. 20, 2009 Filibusters

By Curt Levey

Gary Marx of the Judicial Confirmation Network notes in yesterday’s Washington Times that Lanny Davis' call for Barack Obama's judicial nominees to get up-or-down votes on the Senate floor seems “strangely at odds” with his failure to speak out against Democrats’ filibusters of Bush nominees and in support of Republicans’ attempt to prevent filibusters via the nuclear option.

Marx goes on to say that JCN plans to “stick to its principles and urge up-or-down votes” on all nominees, as long as “the Senate abides by the historical procedural rules governing the confirmation process.” I’m guessing those rules include respect for blue slip privileges (remember, there’s at least one GOP senator in a majority of states). But Marx warns that

It would be quite understandable if Republican senators felt otherwise [about supporting up-or-down votes] – most have had extensive experience with Democratic promises of reciprocity.

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Posted at 3:33pm on Jan. 12, 2009 Renominate, renominate, renominate!

By Quin

Is this a groundswell: http://spectator.org/blog/2009/01/12/nominate-a-bush-judge

PS I thought I had just posted this, but it didn't seem to actually make it on site, so I re-posted. If it turns up twice, forgive me....

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Posted at 10:43am on Jan. 6, 2009 Case for Keisler

By Quin

I know it's probably like spitting into the wind, but here I make the case for Obama to renominated Peter Keisler: http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/columns/QuinHillyer/Quin-essential_cas...
Then again, the Bush administration's utter failure to use its Roger Gregory olive branch to better PR effect was a huge missed opportunity that helped make it more difficult to confirm people like Keisler in the first place.
Comments welcome.
I also will try to cross-post at Southern Appeal, if my own computer glitches (I am using a new machine at work) don't get in the way.)

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Posted at 10:43am on Jan. 5, 2009 Judge Griffin Bell, RIP

By Feddie

Griffin Bell was a truly great man, and he will be dearly missed by his family and friends.

I was fortunate enough to meet and interview Judge Bell while working on an essay about his tenure on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which you can read here. I cannot even begin to describe what a generous and warm person he was during our brief time together. Indeed, one of the greatest compliments I've ever received about my writing was from Judge Bell, who loved the essay I had written about him.

The United States has lost a great patriot, and the South has lost one of her modern-day heroes.

Please take a moment today to say a prayer for Judge Bell's family and friends.

God Bless you Judge Bell. Requiescat in pace.

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Posted at 2:43pm on Dec. 19, 2008 Welcome Back Open Thread

By aurel

We were off-line for a while. So this is the Welcome Back Open Thread. All yours. . .

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Posted at 9:25am on Dec. 5, 2008 Weekend Open Thread

By aurel

All yours...

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Posted at 4:43pm on Nov. 21, 2008 Open Thread

By aurel

Fire away.

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Posted at 11:10am on Nov. 17, 2008 Site Will Continue! Yea!

By Quin

I have been reliably informed by Erick Erickson, major domo of ConfirmThem's excellent parent site, RedState, that this site will indeed continue as a live site. yea! Hats off to Erick. And hats off to all you readers who keep the conversation lively and erudite. You are the real stars of this show.

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Posted at 11:44am on Nov. 12, 2008 Keep This Site Going!

By Quin

To Andrew, and to the proprietors at Red State: I vote to keep this site going. Even its name should stay the same, as a sort of ironic inside joke reminding everybody that we had to work this hard just to get qualified judges to receive semi-fair consideration. (If the name is just TOO weird, then just put a question amrk after it, as in "Confirm Them??") But from now on, this site could still be used to discuss information about Obama nominees, and to warn if any of them are particularly egregious, etc.

To all the readers out there, I invite you to comment below with many rounds of hearty approval for my suggestion!

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Posted at 12:36am on Nov. 5, 2008 A Confirmthem Blogger Goes on Sabbatical

By AndrewHyman

Here's a link to Senator McCain's very gracious and moving concession speech. He said: "I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here." The present difficulties are grave, and they have virtually nothing to do with economics, in my opinion. But that issue is what decided the election, so there you have it.

It's been an honor volunteering at this web site. As Senator McCain pointed out, nothing is inevitable in this country, so please don't give up hope that truth and justice will ultimately prevail if we keep at it. The election of an African-American president is testament enough that wrongs can be righted, even wrongs endorsed by that new president.

Congratulations to President George W. Bush on some fine judicial appointments, and to Senator John McCain for running a valiant campaign. And congratulations to the other bloggers and commenters at this site who have tried to give them some support.

I'll take leave of blogging at this site for the foreseeable future. We'll get back together when a president nominates judges who have a solid record of supporting the rule of law instead of the rule of men, and who understand the grave damage done when judges exercise power without authority. In the following obnoxious video, replace "President" with "Supreme Court" to see how judges often operate nowadays:

Even if Supreme Court decisions were ipso facto legal (which they are not), that would never begin to justify decisions like Roe v. Wade or Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Those decisions --- even though well-intentioned --- grossly mischaracterized the killing of post-embryonic human lives as a fundamental "right." No decision could possibly be more wrong.

Empowerment or equality of a citizen never requires that the citizen be given a license to commit homicide against a non-threatening victim. The other two branches of the federal government may soon (for the first time) fall in line and endorse that judicial mistake, but the mistake will one day be corrected. Although I am not a Christian, I will quote some pertinent words of Jesus Christ: "forgive them, for they know not what they do."

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Posted at 3:18pm on Nov. 1, 2008 Confirmthem May Soon Get Another Lease on Life --- Or Not

By AndrewHyman

Well, depending upon what happens on Tuesday, it appears that confirmthem may be going into some very deep hibernation pretty soon. There’s an outside chance that that will not happen, but I wouldn’t be placing any heavy bets at this point. MAKE SURE YOU VOTE ON TUESDAY!

I have been very disappointed in Obama’s campaign, and am even more disappointed about what an Obama administration would likely do to this country and the judiciary. It would be wonderful to have someone of his ethnicity as president, but that is no reason to vote for him. And having a female Veep would be wonderful too! I feel like Obama and his allies have treated the voters like mushrooms: keeping us in the dark and feeding us manure. In contrast, John McCain has run a mostly valiant campaign, and perhaps it might yet prevail.

One of Obama’s biggest allies --- the Los Angeles Times --- will not even release a transcript of Obama remarks that it has on videotape. If you don’t think you’re being treated like a mushroom, just listen to prominent Democrat Pat Caddell who said the following on Friday:

Let's assume for a moment that they claim that they had an agreement in their source not to release the tape. Why not the transcript? …. I'm just saying why not release the transcript…. Well, the point is why don't you just release the transcript? That's — that would be the end of this…. If somebody gives you a tape and it allows to you write a story on it you have the right to run the transcript. That's all I'm saying, the — the issue here is journalism and it's the right of the people to know.

And the following video illustrates another outrageous reason why the Obama campaign may win the election and put this website out of business, by its secret and illegal fundraising shenanigans.

And Michael Patrick Leahy explains yet another way that Obama has been treating us all like mushrooms (Obama ought to release his original long-form birth certificate just like McCain has done). Grrr. [Obama was a trans-oceanic traveller during the month he was born, and Hawaii newspaper notices of his birth were automatically printed whenever a parent requested a birth certificate, but here is very compelling proof that he was born in Hawaii. ---AH, 3/1/2009.]

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Posted at 10:25pm on Oct. 29, 2008 Scary Obama Picks

By Curt Levey

An article in November’s ABA Journal, “The Lawyers Who May Run America,” names Harvard Law Professor and Anita Hill counsel Charles Ogletree as the most likely Obama pick to head DOJ’s civil rights division. Hans Bader of the Competitive Enterprise Institute explains why that prospect should concern us.

Almost as disturbing is the Journal’s speculation about Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick as Obama’s Attorney General and Professor Cass Sunstein as White House Domestic Policy Adviser. The article also names the very scary Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor as a top Obama Supreme Court prospect.

For the Journal’s speculation about McCain picks, see here.

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