Dumbing Down the Courts: How Politics Keeps the Smartest Judges Off the Bench by John R. Lott Jr

Author:John R. Lott Jr. [Lott, John R. Jr.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Law, Rules & Procedures, Courts, Politics & Social Sciences, Politics & Government, Elections & Political Process, General, Practical Politics, Professional & Technical, Procedures & Litigation
ISBN: 9781626522497
Amazon: B00F2OUDM4
Barnesnoble: B00F2OUDM4
Publisher: Bascom Hill Publishing Group
Published: 2013-09-07T22:00:00+00:00

Again, we can see in Figures 3.3 and 3.4 how the delay became most pronounced for circuit court nominees. For example, 55 percent of Reagan nominees to the circuit courts were confirmed within two months. But it took three months under George H. W. Bush to attain the same proportion of confirmed nominees. Then the delays got much worse during the next two administrations. It took four and a half months for Clinton; seven months for George W. Bush; and eight months for Obama. The ever-increasing delays can be seen in Figure 3.3.

Normally, with a filibuster-proof 60 Democrat Senators during part of Obama’s first two years in office, Obama should have had no problem getting all of his nominees confirmed. Even when Democrats only had 59 Senators, they needed just one Republican to break a filibuster.

The long initial lag in confirming Obama’s circuit and district court nominations is largely explained by two facts. First, the Senate Judiciary Committee was busy with two consecutive Supreme Court nominations. A similar delay was observed for George W. Bush’s circuit court confirmations during the 109th Congress (2005-2006), when there were also two Supreme Court nominations.

Secondly, Obama was much slower than previous presidents in nominating judges. Five of Obama’s twenty-five nominees for the circuit court weren’t announced until five months before the November mid-term elections, a time when it becomes difficult for any nominations to be considered. In contrast, George W. Bush was much quicker when he came into office, with only one out of thirty-two circuit court nominations during his first two years in office made that close to his first midterm election.

One can quibble over whether, under President Obama, the percent of circuit court judges confirmed tops out at 91 or 95 percent after 14 months. It all depends on how one counts Caitlin Halligan’s experience. Halligan’s nomination to be a circuit court judge ended in a filibuster in December 2011, and the Senate could be viewed as having rendered its verdict at that time. Yet, Obama refused to accept “no” for an answer and renominated her for the same judgeship on June 11, 2012. Given how late she was renominated in a presidential election year, it is doubtful that Obama was serious about this renomination.

The delays at the district court level have been less severe, but differences are apparent there, too. For example, 35 percent of Reagan’s district court nominees were confirmed within one month of nomination, whereas that proportion was not attained for nominees under Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama until three, four, and six months respectively after judges nominations.

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