Mr. President - Please fill the vacancies on the courts

[Hawaii Hiker]

Getting lost with the state of the economy & the upcoming health care debate, is one very important topic, federal court vacancies...

Now, it was a great step this week getting David Hamilton confirmed, but there are still plenty of vacancies...Of course, Rethugs have slowed the process but we still have the numbers to stop filibusters (some Democrats may or may not be on board w/health care, but Democrats are rather united on judges, all voted for Sotomayor & all voted for Hamilton)....

We've waited a LONG time for Democratic appointments to the courts, let's not "F" this up...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/us/politics/15judicial.html

[tabatha]

1. The Republicans are holding up evertyhing they

possibly can.

[Undercurrent]

2. One of the several ways the Repugs can slow down the process

is that any Senator can put a hold on a nomination. It can even be a secret hold so you don't know which Senator is doing it.

Hold:
- An informal practice by which a Senator informs his or her floor leader that he or she does not wish a particular bill or other measure to reach the floor for consideration. The Majority Leader need not follow the Senator's wishes, but is on notice that the opposing Senator may filibuster any motion to proceed to consider the measure.
http://www.senate.gov/reference/glossary_term/hold.htm

Secret hold:
A secret hold is a parliamentary procedure within the Standing Rules of the Senate within the United States Senate that allows one or more Senators to prevent a motion from reaching a vote on the Senate floor. Current Senate rules allow the hold to be only temporarily anonymous.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_hold

[longwinded]

3. Obama judicial nominee recommendations

It seems to be taking the Obama administration a long time to get through the vetting process. Quite a few recommendations have been sent to them thus far. Obama is of course free to disregard recommendations from home-state senators, but in most cases is unlikely to do so (especially for district court nominations).

Arkansas
o Recommendations by Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor: http://lincoln.senate.gov/newsroom/2009-03-12-3.cfm
o Eastern District of Arkansas (2 vacancies; 3 recs for each vacancy): Christopher J. Heller, Denise Reid Hoggard, Amelia Mosley Russell; Mariam T. Hopkins, D.P. “Price” Marshall Jr., Morgan E. “Chip” Welch.
o Western District of Arkansas (2 vacancies, but recs are for a single vacancy): Caroline M. Craven, Susan O. Hickey, James S. Hudson, Jr.

Colorado
o Recommendations by Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall: http://markudall.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=3
o District of Colorado (2 vacancies): Christina Habas, Morris Ben Hoffman, Richard Brooke Jackson, William Martinez, Lael Montgomery, John F. Walsh

Illinois
o Recommendations by Sen. Dick Durbin: http://www.chicagoiplitigation.com/2009/08/articles/legal-news/senator-durbin-sends-northern-district-judicial-nominees-list-to-president-obama/
o Northern District of Illinois (4 vacancies): Edmond Chang, Sharon Coleman, Susan Cox, Thomas Durkin, Gary Feinerman, Mary Rowland, Maria Valdez

Louisiana
o Recommendation by Sen. Mary Landrieu: http://landrieu.senate.gov/releases/09/2009427C07.html
o Eastern District of Louisiana: Michael Bagneris

Michigan
o Recommendations by Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow: http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=314560
o Eastern District of Michigan (2 vacancies): David Allen, Mark Goldsmith

Minnesota
o Recommendation by Sen. Amy Klobuchar: http://www.startribune.com/local/68913992.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhUec7PaP3E77K_0c::D3aDhUiacyKUnciatkEP7DhUr
o District of Minnesota: Susan R. Nelson

North Carolina
o Recommendations by Sen. Kay Hagan: http://hagan.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=351 and http://hagan.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=229
o Western District of North Carolina (1 vacancy): Max Cogburn Jr., Robert Ervin (son of former Senator Sam Ervin), Calvin Murphy (Hagan has since withdrawn this rec)
o Eastern District of North Carolina (1 vacancy): Allen Cobb, Jennifer May-Parker, Quentin Sumner
o Middle District of North Carolina (1 vacancy): Catherine Eagles, Anita Earls, Edwin Wilson

Ohio
o Recommendations by Sens. Sherrod Brown and George Voinovich (Voinovich is a Republican, so a nomination effectively means confirmation): http://brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press_releases/release/?id=396af081-da91-4b04-bd55-3691769cd51f and http://brown.senate.gov/newsroom/in_the_news/article/index.cfm?id=a1a8267e-de9e-4699-b0da-388b548d0161
o Northern District of Ohio: Benita Pearson
o Southern District of Ohio: Timothy Black

Oregon
o Recommendations by Sen. Ron Wyden: http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2009/07/28/ron-wyden-adds-marco-hernandez-as-the-sixth-name-to-judges-list/
o District Court of Oregon (2 vacancies): Thomas Balmer, Marco Hernandez (nominated by G.W. Bush to same position, but no action taken by Senate), Henry Kantor, Karsten Rasmussen, Michael Simon, Steven Wax

Rhode Island
o Recommendation by Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse: http://www.projo.com/news/content/JUDICIAL_NOMINATIONS_04-14-09_DAE1A14_v18.393d62e.html
o District Court of Rhode Island: John J. “Jack” McConnell Jr.

Texas
o The recommendation process here is getting ugly. The two Republican senators are trying assert their "right" to make recommendations rather than letting the a Democratic congressional delegation perform the duty (as is customary if there is no senator/governor of the same party; see Alabama and Obama's nomination of Abdul Kallon): http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/columnists/gary_martin/Nominations_focus_of_Texas_delegation_wrangling_.html
o In the meantime, let's assume Democratic recommendations take precedence: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/63710137.html
o Eastern District of Texas (1 seat will become vacant Jan 2010): John B. Stevens
o Southern District of Texas (3 vacancies): Marina Garcia Marmolejo, Diana Saldaña
o Western District of Texas (2 vacancies): Javier Alvarez, Catherine Torres-Stahl

Virginia
o Recommendation by Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb: http://warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=90b8c909-536b-470d-9e11-ed4f6abc31bf&ContentType_id=0956c5f0-ef7c-478d-95e7-f339e775babf
o Eastern District of Virginia: John A. Gibney

West Virginia
o Recommendation by Sens. Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller: http://wvgazette.com/Opinion/Editorials/200911010206
o Northern District of West Virginia: Nick Casey

Wisconsin
o Recommendations by Wisconsin Bar (these go to Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl, who will then pare down the list and forward names to Obama): http://www.wisbar.org/am/template.cfm?section=press_releases&template=/cm/contentdisplay.cfm&contentid=65784
o 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (a "Wisconsin seat" will become vacant Jan 2010): Lynn S. Adelman, Linda M. Clifford, Anuj C. Desai, Victoria F. Nourse, Richard J. Sankovitz, Dean A. Strang

Wyoming
o Recommendations by Gov. Dave Freudenthal (no D's in WY congressional delegation): http://www.trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_76f75627-95c4-5449-84fa-ffb5f123255a.html
o District of Wyoming (1 vacancy): Ford T. Bussart, Nancy Freudenthal (Governor's wife), Norman E. Young

[longwinded]

4. Obama judicial nominee recommendations (updated 12/04/2009)

This week, Obama nominated three people to fill district court vacancies: Benita Pearson (Northern District of Ohio, recommended in July), Nancy Freudenthal (District of Wyoming, recommended in May), and Denzil Price Marshall (Eastern District of Arkansas, recommended in March).

Sen. Mary Landrieu's recommendation for Western District of Louisiana: Beth Foote
o http://landrieu.senate.gov/releases/09/2009731856.html

[longwinded]

7. Delaware judicial recommendations

Sen. Tom Carper's recommendations for the District of Delaware (1 vacancy): Andre Bouchard, Mary Graham, Leonard Stark
o http://www.delawaregrapevine.com/5-09fedposts.asp

[longwinded]

8. Florida judicial recommendations

The Florida Federal Judiciary Nominating Commission made recommendations to Sen. Bill Nelson for the Southern District of Florida: Jerald Bagley, Robert N. Scola, Jr., Kathleen M. Williams
o http://www.floridabar.org/TFB/TFBPublic.nsf/WNewsReleases/49526BE738AC989B852575F900673FF9

[longwinded]

9. Georgia judicial recommendations

Georgia
o Recommendations by Democratic members of Georgia's congressional delegation (Georgia's two senators and governor are R's): http://www.dailyreportonline.com/Editorial/News/singleEdit.asp?individual_SQL=8/27/2009@34761
o Northern District of Georgia (3 current vacancies, 4 if/when Beverly Martin gets elevated to the 11th Circuit): J. Antonio DelCampo, Leigh M. May, Albert M. Pearson III, Wayne M. Purdom, Constance C. Russell, Wendy L. Shoob, V. Natasha Perdew Silas, Amy M. Totenberg, Gail S. Tusan, Gerald R. Weber Jr., David J. Worley

[longwinded]

17. Additional Arkansas judicial recommendation

One of the people originally recommended by Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor died, so they submitted an additional name: http://lincoln.senate.gov/newsroom/USAttorneys-USMarshals.cfm
o Western District of Arkansas (2 vacancies, but recs are for a single vacancy): Caroline M. Craven, Susan O. Hickey, Carlton D. Jones (replaces James S. Hudson, Jr., who died in May 2009)

[longwinded]

23. Yet another Arkansas judicial recommendation

Last week, Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor made another recommendation for the Western District of Arkansas, this time for the 2nd vacancy on that court: http://pryor.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=320883
o Western District of Arkansas (2 vacancies; 3 recs for 1st vacancy, 1 rec for 2nd vacancy): Caroline M. Craven, Susan O. Hickey, Carlton D. Jones (replaces James S. Hudson, Jr., who died in May 2009); P.K. Holmes III

[longwinded]

21. Maryland judicial recommendations

Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin sent Obama three recommendations last week, one name for each of the three vacancies in the District of Maryland: James K. Bredar, Charles B. Day, Ellen Hollander
o http://dailyme.com/story/2009121200002147/md-senators-propose-3-district-judgeships-.html

[Cha]

5. Thanks for posting.. I don't know if you saw this

"Senate Judiciary Committee sends 2 Obama judicial nominees to the full Senate"

Cross Post with/Pics! :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7151388

[Hawaii Hiker]

6. No, i didn't see that, thank U for posting

Hopefully, they'll get confirmed (and not get dragged out like the David Hamilton vote did) very soon, :woohoo:

[eleny]

10. This is one of the main reasons I worked to get a Democrat elected president

Without the courts to the left of center, we're in trouble.

[Better Believe It]

11. President Obama isn't trying to appoint liberals to the federal courts.

GOP Opposition Slows Obama's Judicial Nominees
by Nina Totenberg
November 17, 2009

President Obama has played the game very differently. While Bush in essence played an outside game, Obama has played an inside game —quietly clearing the nominations with home-state Republicans, and seeking out nominees who are moderate liberals.

But the process so far has yielded dramatically fewer numbers of nominees and confirmations.

By this time in Bush's first year in office, he had nominated a total of 64 judges, compared with 26 for Obama. By this time, Bush had won confirmation of 18, including both appeals court and district court judges, compared with six for Obama. The numbers assume an even greater disparity when you realize that Obama has a hefty Senate majority of Democrats, while Bush actually faced a Democratic-controlled Senate in 2001.

Democratic interest groups — labor, consumer, environmental, civil rights and civil liberties groups — are increasingly unhappy about the president's unwillingness to pick more distinctly liberal nominees, and about the continued Republican dominance of the courts at a time when Democrats finally have the chance to make some of these lifetime appointments.

Still, while liberal groups agitate about both the White House and the Senate leadership's unwillingness to confront the issue head on, others point to the heavy legislative agenda — health care, energy, financial reform — that is pending in the Senate.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120482368

[eleny]

12. I related my position during the cmapaign

Clearly there are reasons to be disappointed now.

[Hawaii Hiker]

13. I think alot of people only focus on the dramatic appointments ie; Supreme Court

openings, but President Obama will fill ALOT of lower court levels in, hopefully what will be a 2-term presidency....With the current senate majority we have, we need to fill these positions yesterday....

And there very well could be another Supreme Court opening if Justice Stevens retires, rumor started after he did NOT hire any clerks for the 2010 term....So don't be surprised to hear him announce his retirement in April/May 2010...

[Better Believe It]

14. It would have to be someone acceptable to Republicans, right? Because if he/she isn't the ....

Republicans might threatend to filibuster .... one of those fake filibusters that scare the crap out of many spineless Democrats.

Scary!

[Hawaii Hiker]

15. Well, the only 2 people acceptable to Republicans would be:

Robert Bork or a clone of Antonin Scalia, lol...

If Stevens steps down I hope the pick is someone WAY left of center....Bush went ultra far right with Roberts & Ailito - well, now turnabout is fair play...

[Ter]

16. Just make sure they support the Second Amendment

If not deny them all conformation.

[Zynx]

18. The Republicans are doing their damndest to slow the gears down on this front.

They have put holds on nearly every appointment Obama has made. As a result, they are barely moving through the system.

[quakerboy]

19. And the US attorneys.

Both are important.

[MadMaddie]

20. It's not that President Obama is slow

The Repuglicans are actively derailing and stalling nominations. And it's not just judge positions.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-judges16-2009nov16,0,1183259.story

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/04/nominees-held-up/

[Hawaii Hiker]

22. Here is a good summary of the status of President Obama's nominations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_judges_appointed_by_Barack_Obama