Republican senators take a stand on protecting American justice

Eight Senate Republicans gathered this afternoon to hold a forum on “Protecting American Justice: Ensuring Confirmation of Qualified Judicial Nominees.” Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) led the forum and said that it is not fair to the American people for Congress to block certain judicial nominees in an effort to obtain partisan revenge. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) agreed with Specter and said that U.S. courts are the front lines of contact between the American citizens and Congress.

Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said that there is no excuse for not considering voting upon a good judicial nominee. He said that republicans are ready to go to work and serve justice. Sen. John Warner said it is sad watching qualified nominees not get invited to hearings and go into the “partisan fight.” Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) agreed with Warner and said that good nominees should not be trumped by partisan politics.

John McGinnis of Northwestern Law School said the process of confirming judicial nominees has broken down in the last few years and become a partisan process. He explained that over the last twenty years, the Senate Judiciary Committee has often refused to hold hearings or take votes on federal court nominees of a President who is a member of the opposing political party. McGinnis said that by delaying or refusing to provide hearings for plausibly qualified federal court nominees, the Judiciary Committee is likely to harm the quality of the judiciary. He proposed that the Committee pass a rule requiring the Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing within six months of a nomination and to hold a Committee vote without one month of the hearing, unless at least two-thirds of the Committee agrees to postpone it.

David Bohn of the North Carolina Bar Association said that his association joins in calling for nominations to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to move forward immediately, specifically Judge Robert Conrad’s nomination. Bohn said that further delay in the nomination will cause more harm than good, and that to continue to have the State of North Carolina under-represented in the Circuit is “a misfortunate, unnecessary detriment to the public and the legal community of North Carolina.”

Roscoe Howard, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, explained that the D.C. Circuit has been affected by a growing caseload. He said that not having vacancies filled during a time like this is “just wrong.” Howard gave his support for Mr. Keisler and Judge Conrad and said that when the confirmation of men such as them fail to move forward, there is an appearance of a lack of appreciation of their capabilities, and of the respect they have earned. More importantly, Howard said that the integrity of the U.S. judicial system of selecting judges is harmed and diminished.