ConfirmThem

The future of "diversity" looks rosy indeed under Obama.

/snark

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/22/AR200902...

"For starters, the group proposes a form of term limits, moving justices to senior status after 18 years on the court. The proposal says that justices now linger so long that it diminishes the likelihood that the court's decisions ***"will reflect the moral and political values of the contemporary citizens they govern.***" "

Swee Jesu. Hang in there, Nino & Tony. You can do it. And Palin, Jindal, Sanford & my homeboy Huntsman better get their acts in gear pronto. The next person who seriously suggests the GOP nominate a longtime US Senator for POTUS needs to head straight to the gallows.

Commentary from CBS News: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/02/23/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry...

Anybody know anything about Paul Carrington from Duke Law, or Eric Posner(!?) from UChicago Law, who are behind this drivel?

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

http://www.slate.com/id/2215142/

"This kind of vicious slash-and-burn character attack, the kind in which the nominee is attacked as a vicious hater of America, is hardly new. The little trick of upending Dean Koh's legal arguments and recharacterizing them as the nefarious plotting of Dr. Evil is a surprise to nobody at this point. But we can be bothered even if we're not surprised. When moderate Americans and the mainstream media allow a handful of right-wing zealots to occupy the field in the public discussions of an Obama nominee, they become complicit in a character assassination."

You'll be stunned to know that the words "Bork" & "Thomas" don't appear in this article.

Somebody with a large public platform please shred this purple crayon-written trash.

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

http://www.slate.com/id/2214735/

In case you were wondering, she says Obama would "replace (JPS, RBG or DHS) with a like-minded liberal centrist".

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

From a month old L.A. Times Editorial I'm sure has been posted here before (but hey, I'm on a roll right now): http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-judges8-2009mar08,0...

"During his eight years in office, Bush appointed 328 judges to the federal courts. This was third-most of any president, behind Presidents Reagan (384) and Clinton (379).

There now are 67 vacancies on the federal district and appellate courts. Obama is expected to make his first set of nominations in April."

Wow, what Tiger Woods-like numbers! Outstanding work, fellas. Way to fight. Enjoy your taxpayer-funded pensions and automatic pay raises.

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

From the Legal Times Blog:

"The White House just announced two nominees to federal circuit courts. Both are district court judges who would be elevated to the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the 2nd and 4th Circuits, two of the most-watched circuits in the country.

Here's the news release. More later.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 2, 2009

President Obama Announces Judge Gerard Lynch for United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Judge Andre Davis for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

WASHINGTON, DC — President Obama today announced his intent to nominate Judge Gerard Lynch for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge Andre Davis for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Judge Lynch currently sits on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and Judge Davis serves on the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

“Judges Lynch and Davis are two jurists with exceptional records of integrity and fairness,” President Obama said. “They will be voices of reason and even-handedness on the Second and Fourth Circuits. Their service to the District Courts of New York and Maryland has been invaluable and I am honored to put them forward to serve on the Second and Fourth Circuits.”

Judge Gerard Lynch

Judge Gerard Lynch was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating first in his class from Regis High School, a Jesuit school in New York, he received his B.A. from Columbia in 1972, where he was valedictorian. He received his J.D. from Columbia in 1975, again graduating first in his class. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1975-76 and for Justice William Brennan of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1976-77.

Judge Lynch joined the Columbia law faculty as an assistant professor in 1977, becoming an associate professor in 1980 and a full professor in 1986. He was awarded an endowed chair in 1996, which he continues to hold.

Prior to taking the bench, Lynch served in a wide range of government positions. He was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) from 1980 to 1983, Special Counsel for the New York Special Commission to Investigate City Contracts in 1986, Chief Counsel for the New York Commission on Government Integrity in 1987, Associate Counsel for the Iran-Contra Independent Counsel from 1988 to 1990, Chief of the Criminal Division in the SDNY U.S. Attorney’s Office from 1990 to 1992, and Special Counsel for the Office of Independent Counsel Carol Elder Bruce from 1999 to 2000. In addition, from 1992 to 2000 he was of counsel to the firm Covington & Burling (formerly Howard Darby & Levin) in New York. Lynch currently serves as a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York.

Judge Lynch is being nominated for the Second Circuit seat made vacant when Judge Chester Straub took senior status in 2008.

Judge Andre Davis

Judge Andre Davis was born and raised in East Baltimore. He received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania, and his J.D. with honors from the University of Maryland School of Law.

After graduating from law school, he clerked for Judge Frank Kaufman on the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and then for Judge Francis Murnaghan, Jr., on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He then served as an appellate attorney in the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, and as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Maryland.

Judge Davis then spent several years in private practice before joining the faculty of the University of Maryland Law School, where he taught federal civil procedure, constitutional criminal procedure, oral advocacy, and legal research and writing. Davis was appointed to the State District Court of Maryland for Baltimore in August 1987 and served for over three years before being appointed to the State Circuit Court for Baltimore. In November 1992, the people of Baltimore elected him to a full term on the Circuit Court. In 1995, he was nominated and unanimously confirmed for a position on the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

Judge Davis is a member of the faculty of the National Judicial College, and is a past president of the Executive Committee of the Maryland Judicial Conference and a former member of the Judicial Institute of Maryland’s Board of Directors. He is also a member of the Committee on International Judicial Relations, which helps to educate judges around the world about the American justice system. He was first appointed to the committee by then-Chief Justice Rehnquist.

Judge Davis is being nominated for the Fourth Circuit seat left vacant by the death of Judge Francis Murnaghan."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBAMA_JUDICIARY?SITE=AP&SECTION=H...

"President Barack Obama plans to nominate a federal judge from Maryland and another from New York to serve on U.S. appeals courts, changing the political balance of both courts, officials said Thursday.

The Maryland judge, Andre Davis, would serve on the Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals if confirmed by the Senate. His confirmation would give the circuit six Democratic-appointed and six Republican-named judges, leaving three vacancies. The court has handled cases involving terrorism defendants or detainees.

Gerard Lynch would fill the only vacancy on the New York-centered 2nd Circuit, giving the court seven Democratic and six Republican judges. The court often presides over Wall Street-related financial cases."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gjzqHOtSZdJXlEdvgnmgXr...

"Most Republicans boycotted the hearing Wednesday for President Barack Obama's first judicial nominee, allowing Democrats to pitch softballs to David Hamilton in his quest for a seat on a Midwestern appeals court.

The committee will not vote on the nomination for several weeks. But with Republicans complaining of inadequate preparation time, the hearing signaled a rocky beginning to Obama's attempt to remake the federal judiciary."

"The ranking Republican on the committee, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, appeared at the start to say how "very distasteful" it was that Republicans weren't given adequate preparation time.

Specter complained that Hamilton was nominated March 17 and submitted answers to an extensive questionnaire on March 24. He said the boxes containing Hamilton's opinions and other writings could be four feet high if he had chosen to pile them on the room's rectangular conference table."

On 4/2 the Iowa State Supreme Court web site indicated that it would be handing down its decision on same sex marriage at approximately 8:30 a.m. Central Time on 4/3. This will be posted on its web site.

One of the few things both sides agree on is that it will like be a decision that upholds the Polk County judge's decision striking down Iowa's Defense of Marriage Act and allowing same sex marriages. Lambda Legal doesn't pick its targets for moral victories. A Focus on the Family related group has analyzed the judges certainly sitting on the Iowa Supreme Court and believes there is a majority favorable to upholding the Polk County decision. Let's just say I'll be very surprised if the Polk decision is struck down.

On 4/2 the Iowa State Supreme Court web site indicated that it would be handing down its decision on same sex marriage at approximately 8:30 a.m. Central Time on 4/3. This will be posted on its web site.

One of the few things both sides agree on is that it will like be a decision that upholds the Polk County judge's decision striking down Iowa's Defense of Marriage Act and allowing same sex marriages. Lambda Legal doesn't pick its targets for moral victories. A Focus on the Family related group has analyzed the judges certainly sitting on the Iowa Supreme Court and believes there is a majority favorable to upholding the Polk County decision. Let's just say I'll be very surprised if the Polk decision is struck down.

Please delete my second post and this post. Thanks.

Classic was correct that Iowa's Supreme Court would uphold the trial court decision striking down the state DOMA. Ed Whelan has a great critique of Iowa's equal protection clause that apparently is "defined by the standards of each generation." http://bench.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZjYyMDhiMWE0ZTVjMDQ4ZGZkNmM3MTE2...

As in the California case, this court had to find a suspect class by holding that 'immutability' included things that weren't immutable, and 'political powerlessness' included groups like GLBT folks who are politically powerful.

7-0. Disappointing.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/xxfactor/archive/2009/04/03/olson-endor...

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/legal_beat/2009/04/leahy-rebuffs-gop-on-doov...

"Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy has rejected the idea of having another confirmation hearing on 7th Circuit Court nominee David F. Hamilton. Leahy made his position clear in an exchange of letters with ranking Republican Arlen Specter that has laid bare the mounting tension between the two lawmakers over the confirmation process."

"...the day before the hearing, Specter and the other seven Republicans on the committee wrote to Leahy to request another hearing on Hamilton. They cited a Senate rule that provides for a majority of the minority side of committees, other than Appropriations, to call witnessess for follow-on hearings.

In an April 2 reply, Leahy said he was "confused" by the GOP invocation of that rule, and said "our practice, with Democratic chairmen and Republican chairmen, has been not to have public witnesses at confirmation hearings." The Vermont Democrat noted that the committee has bent that rule for Supreme Court and Attorney General confirmation hearings, and for nominees rated "not qualified" by the American Bar Association.

"It seems you are, instead, demanding that you be allowed to call Judge Hamilton as a witness," Leahy wrote. "But that makes no sense since he appeared as a witness."

That's not going to sit well with Specter and his fellow Republicans, who pointed out in their March 31 letter that, in 2003, the GOP-controlled committee held two confirmation hearings on the nomination of John G. Roberts Jr. to the D.C. Circuit."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/us/12ginsburg.html?ref=politics

"American hostility to the consideration of foreign law, she said, “is a passing phase.” She predicted that “we will go back to where we were in the early 19th century when there was no question that it was appropriate to refer to decisions of other courts.”

Justice Ginsburg turned 76 last month and underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer in February. Here on Friday, she was energetic, enthusiastic and characteristically precise in her answers to questions from two law professors in a 90-minute conversation."

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/us/14bar.html?ref=politics

He likes loading and unloading the dishwasher, so women should hate him: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/13/719543/-Clarence-Thomas-prop...

And of course, "...Scalia, the "lighter skinned version" of Thomas...": http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/13/719559/-Clarence-Thomas-vs.-The-...

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

Tome to run against Specter. I would guess the challenger will win the primary. We'll see about the General.

could we please have a new topic or an open thread? Thanks.

Well, between you & me we just contributed three new topics! :D

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

yet it sometimes help to have a new headline on the home page with a more recent date. That can sometimes generate more traffic and comments. By the way, I miswrote--it's spelled "Toome"?

Pat Toomey, IIRC. Long past time for Specter to go, tho I still credit him for his shredding of Anita Hill. But even his pals at kos are embarassed by his recent gyrations on card check.

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

http://www.projo.com/news/content/JUDICIAL_NOMINATIONS_04-14-09_DAE1A14_...

"Rhode Island’s first black female state judge and a prominent Providence lawyer who took on tobacco and lead-paint companies have been recommended for the federal bench by Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse.

Reed and Whitehouse announced Monday they had chosen state Superior Court Judge Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson to fill a 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seat and John J. “Jack” McConnell Jr. to the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island."

"Thompson, 57, put her name in for both the District and the 1st Circuit seats, inspired, she said at the time, by the fact that an African-American had not been appointed to either court and that only one woman has served on each.

“I guess the general theme of the country is change. I think it would be an opportunity for history to be made,” Thompson said. She said she is particularly interested in the courts’ roles in protecting civil liberties.

Thompson grew up in segregated South Carolina. Her great-grandfather, a plantation owner, bought her great-grandmother at a slave auction. They later fell in love and raised a family. Thompson came to Rhode Island to attend Pembroke College, then the female college of Brown University. She graduated from Brown after the two schools merged in 1973 and earned a law degree from Boston University Law School.

She returned to Rhode Island to represent the poor through Rhode Island Legal Services. She then opened a South Providence law firm while raising a family with now District Court Judge William C. Clifton. Her brother-in-law is Superior Court Judge Edward C. Clifton.

Thompson made history in Rhode Island in 1988, when Governor DiPrete appointed her to state District Court after she brokered the deal that secured the Narragansett Indian Tribe its land in Charlestown. At the time, District Court Judge Alton W. Wiley, who was also black, was the only other person of color on the state bench. She was named to Superior Court in 1997.

Thompson, a Democrat, said has been retracing her life from age 18 as part of the White House vetting process since being told of the recommendation to the six-judge court several weeks ago. That has involved submitting every decision and newspaper article available on the Internet, she said.

“Obviously, I’m very honored,” Thompson said, reached Monday in Washington County Superior Court. “I certainly hope everything works out.”"

http://www.projo.com/news/content/THOMPSON_BIOBOX_04-14-09_DAE1CQ9_v10.3...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/opinion/14tue2.html

"A study by a University of Georgia professor and two other political scientists reviewed those ratings from 1985 to 2008 and found that President Clinton’s nominees were 14 percent more likely than the Republican presidents’ choices to receive a “well qualified” rating.

Rather than being a result of bias, this disparity may reflect the degree to which recent Republican presidents put ideology ahead of excellence in selecting judges. Based on the last eight years, it is especially hard to argue that the A.B.A. has been a liberal force on judicial selection."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/opinion/15wed3.html

"Conservative activists have been groundlessly attacking Judge Hamilton as a “judicial activist,” objecting to rulings on abortion and public prayer. Republican senators boycotted his Judiciary Committee hearing, insisting that the nomination was moving forward too quickly.

Senate Republicans have already begun threatening to filibuster judicial nominees who do not meet with their approval. Mr. Obama will no doubt need to stand up to them to get some of his more controversial nominees through. Judge Hamilton is one that senators of both parties should be able to rally around."

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/04/15/could-hamilton-dustup-signal-struggl...

"If the kerfuffle over President Obama’s first appellate-judge nomination is any sign of things to come, it could be a long and contentious few years for members of the Senate Judiciary Committee — and the folks on both sides of the aisle who try to influence their votes.

Here’s the deal: Last month, Obama nominated David Hamilton, a federal district court judge in Indianapolis, to fill a seat on the Seventh Circuit, the body that hears appeals from federal courts in Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois. (Click here for an earlier LB post on Hamilton.)

But early this month, Republicans on the committee largely boycotted the hearing on Hamilton’s candidacy, claiming the Obama administration hadn’t given ample time to prepare. According to this AP story, the ranking Republican, Arlen Specter, called the move “very distasteful.”

What’s really going on here? It could be the two parties feeling each other out, trying to get a sense as to what type of judicial candidate Obama is likely to appoint, and what type of candidate the GOP is likely to object to.

Republicans might take a hard-line with the likes of Hamilton, who, while a district court judge, issued a number of controversial issues on hot-button topics. For instance, in 2005, he ordered the Speaker of the Indiana House to immediately stop the practice of “sectarian prayers” at the opening of the legislative session.

The NYT today contains an editorial on Hamilton in which it calls him “impressive” and “well-respected,” concluding “the Senate should confirm him quickly.”

If that happens, however, GOP leaders are likely to hear about it. Said Mario Diaz, a director with Concerned Women of America, said, “Judge Hamilton’s record shows he has a dangerous understanding of the role of a judge and of the Founders’ intent when enacting the First Amendment,” adding: “Few things could violate Judge Hamilton’s supposed ‘separation of church and state’ more than the state (i.e. Judge Hamilton) telling people they cannot pray in the name of Jesus.”"

To clarify, kos had recently somewhat embraced Specter as a "moderate", but then turned on him savagely over his flip-flop on card check. Specter now, supposedly, opposes it, in a pitiful attempt to save his hide in the primary. Toomey SHOULD wipe the floor with him.

kos is cocky about the general against Toomey, but he has to know it won't be that easy.

Specter has had fine moments in his career, but the modern day US Senate and the media coverage of it just destroys pure conservatism, other than maybe Coburn and a couple others.

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

According to Underneath their Robes.
http://underneaththeirrobes.blogs.com/main/2009/04/dddd.html

But he's always the last one. Worth keeping an eye on.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/4/17/721277/-Santorum-to-GOP:-Dont-Bl...

Lots of links and some hilarious comments.

STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.

have a new post/thread begun? It's been 3 weeks now and, though various items have been brought in to the above thread, I tend to be of the belief that a post on the main page can lead to more comments on the thread. Just a thought....

It certainly couldn't be any less readable than if it did that.

Sometimes these have a certain entertainment value in and of themselves. That one is a gem.

I just deleted a bunch of spam (sorry to spoil the entertainment!).