Legal logjam leaving judges' seats empty in federal courts

[n2doc]

Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times
August 30, 2010|2:20 p.m.



Reporting from Lahaina, Hawaii — Almost one in eight federal judgeships is vacant in the country and legal scholars warn that the increasingly politicized confirmation process threatens the administration of justice across the nation.

Democrats and Obama administration officials accuse the Republican minority in the Senate of systematically opposing the president's nominees to prevent him from putting his stamp on a judiciary that, Democrats say, moved to the right under President George W. Bush.

Republicans and conservative analysts say the stalled pace of "replenishment" is part payback for congressional Democrats' efforts to scuttle some Bush nominees and part indifference on the part of President Obama, who they say has been slow to nominate judges.


Of the 102 federal judgeships open, there are nominees pending for 39 seats.

"Republicans can't block something that's not there," said Don Stewart, an aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-judicial-logjam-20100831,0,771599.story

Funny how it almost seems like both sides are working together to avoid fixing the problem...