Picking judges in a time of turmoil: W. Bush's judiciary during the 109th congress

Judicature

Volumn 90, Issue 6, 2007, Pages 252-283

  Goldman, Sheldon ^a   Slotnick, Elliot ^b   Gryski, Gerard ^c   Schiavoni, Sara ^d  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS   (United States)

^b OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c AUBURN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^d JOHN CARROLL UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 34547436425     PISSN: 00225800     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (22)

1. The story of the W. Bush administration's selection of judges and the accompanying confirmation politics during the two previous sessions of Congress is recounted in Sheldon Goldman, Elliot Slotnick, Gerard Gryski, Garry Zuk, and Sara Schiavoni, W. Bush Remaking the Judiciary: Like Father Like Son? 86 JUDICATURE 282 (2003) and Sheldon Goldman, Elliot Slotnick, Gerard Gryski, and Sara Schiavoni, W. Bush's Judiciary: The First Term Record, 88 JUDICATURE 244 (2005).
2. See THE AMERICAN BENCH, WHO'S WHO (national and regional editions), MARTINDALE-HUBBELL LAW DIRECTORY, and THE JUDICIAL STAFF DIRECTORY.
3. Richard W. Stevenson, O'Connor to Retire, Touching Off Battle over Court, New York Times, July 2, 2005, at 1.
4. Interview with Rachel Brand, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy on December 6, 2006. Other quotes from Ms. Brand are drawn from this interview.
5. David Kirkpatrick and Kirk Rutenberg, E-Mail Shows Rove's Role In Fate of Prosecutors, New York Times, March 29, 2007, at A 14.
6. Interview with Jay Sekulow, American Center for Law and Justice, December 6, 2006. Other quotes from Mr. Sekulow are drawn from this interview.
7. Interview with Michael O'Neill, Majority Counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee, on December 8, 2006. Other quotes from Mr. O'Neill are drawn from this interview.
8. Interview with Nan Aron, President of the Alliance for Justice, on December 4, 2006. Other quotes from Ms. Aron are drawn from this interview.
9. Interview with Elliot Mincberg, Vice President, General Counsel and Legal and Education Director of People for the American Way, on December 5, 2006. Other quotes from Mr. Mincberg are drawn from this interview.
10. Interview with Paul Edenfield, Senior Counsel of the Alliance for Justice, on December 4, 2006. Other quotes from Mr. Edenfield are drawn from this interview.
11. Goldman, et al., W. Bush's Judiciary, supra n. 1, at 261-265.
12. In general see Brannon Denning, The judicial confirmation process and the blue slip, 85 JUDICATURE 218 (2002) and Sheldon Goldman, PICKING FEDERAL JUDGES: LOWER COURT SELECTION FROM ROOSEVELT THROUGH REAGAN 45-48, 89, 136-137, 177, 319-323 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997).
13. The high number of those not confirmed, particularly for the district courts, can be traced to Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback's hold on Janet Neff, as discussed earlier.
14. Note that the proportion of Franklin Roosevelt's appointees who were on the bench at the time of appointment was about 20 percent, Harry Truman's proportion was about 19 percent, Dwight Eisenhower's was about 21 percent, Kennedy-Johnson and Nixon-Ford each about 31 percent. See Goldman, supra n. 12, at 348.
15. Goldman et. al, W. Bush's Judiciary, supra n. 1, at 268.
16. It should be acknowledged that the ratings may have been somewhat inflated because the surveys of the legal communities upon which the ratings were based were taken AFTER the nominations had been made. Once an individual has been nominated, those surveyed in the nominee's legal community may be reluctant to express negative views as there may be a fear that somehow a negative appraisal might get back to the future judge before whom those surveyed might appear. Before the administration of George W. Bush, the ABA conducted its surveys and submitted its ratings BEFORE nominations were finalized thus leaving open the possibility that the ratings could influence whether or not a nomination would be made.
17. Goldman, supra n. 12, at 349.
18. The report is printed in 39 THE THIRD BRANCH 1 (January, 2007).
19. See Editorial, Better Pay for Judges, New York Times, February 24, 2007, at A 26.
20. Leaving So Soon: Will Pay Issues Mean Only the Wealthy Can Afford to Serve? 39 THE THIRD BRANCH 1 (February, 2007).
21. Goldman, supra n. 12, at 354.
22. Interview with Jennifer Brosnahan on December 6, 2006.