ConfirmThem

Posted at 10:47am on Sep. 24, 2007 Judge Paul Cassell is Resigning

By Erick

The Wall Street Journal notes today that Judge Paul Cassell, the youngest person every appointed to the federal bench in Utah, is resigning after only five years on the bench.

As the WSJ says, Cassell has been "a significant force" in federal sentencing jurisprudence. He cites many reasons for his resignation, but there is one big one:

As you know, this year federal judges have yet to receive even a cost of living pay increase. Your much-appreciated proposal to raise judicial salaries has yet to be acted on by Congress. I would like to ensure that my children will have the same educational opportunities that I had. How to achieve that within the constraints on current judicial pay is more than a difficult task. My wife and I have concluded that we may not be able to do what we have always planned to do unless I make some changes.

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Posted at 3:54pm on May 8, 2007 Illinois Confirmation

By Curt Levey

Illinois Appellate Judge Frederick Kapala was confirmed 91-0 today to be a federal judge in the state’s Northern District.

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Posted at 10:38pm on Mar. 8, 2007 Two Confirmations

By Curt Levey

As of this afternoon, two more district court judges are heading to the bench:

John A. Jarvey, Southern District of Iowa (confirmed 95 – 0),
and Sara E. Lioi, Northern District of Ohio (confirmed by voice vote).

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Posted at 6:44pm on Feb. 15, 2007 Two Nominations

By Curt Levey

This evening, the White House announced the nomination of two U.S. District Court Judges: Richard Sullivan for the Southern District of New York (vice Michael Mukasey) and Timothy DeGiusti for the Western District of Oklahoma (vice Timothy Leonard).

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Posted at 2:00pm on Feb. 5, 2007 Friedrich for DC District Court?

By aurel

Word has it that former Associate White House Counsel Dabney Friedrich will be nominated to fill a seat on the DC District Court. Mrs. Friedrich would replace Gladys Kessler (a Clinton appointment known as one of the most liberal members of the DC District Court), who took senior status last month.

In other news, according to court insider Jan Crawford Greenburg, Justice Stevens is not planning to retire any time soon. He is "busy fighting for the soul of Justice Kennedy", and no further retirements are expected during President's Bush remaining term in office.

UPDATE FROM ANDREW [3:04 PM]: Just to clarify, the Kessler seat is on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, rather than the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

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Posted at 5:20pm on Jan. 30, 2007 Wood Confirmed

By Curt Levey

Late this afternoon, the Senate voted 97-0 to confirm Lisa Godbey Wood as U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Georgia. Here's a brief bio.

UPDATE (Jan. 30): Half an hour later and by the same vote, the Senate confirmed Philip Gutierrez to be U.S. District Judge for the Central District of California. Hat Tip: cubsfan.

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Posted at 7:44pm on Jan. 9, 2007 New District Nominee Joseph S. Van Bokkelen

By Dave II

Along with a slew of renominations and the elevation of Leslie Southwick to the Fifth Circuit (excellent choice, by the way), there is a new nominee among the bunch. He is United States Attorney Joseph S. Van Bokkelen ,and he is set to replace Judge Rudy Lozano on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana. Judge Lozano, a Reagan appointee, will assume senior status on July 10, 2007.

Mr. Van Bokkelen has been the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana since September 21, 2001. He was in private practice from 1975-2001. Before that he worked in the Indiana State Attorney General's office and the United States Attorney's office. He graduated from the Indiana University School of Law in 1969.

Based on when he graduated law school, I would estimate he's about 60 years old.

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Posted at 10:17pm on Dec. 19, 2006 Brownback removes his block on the Neff nomination

By Feddie

This was the right decision by Brownback. Every judicial nominee deserves an up-or-down vote within a reasonable period of time; and it was inappropriate of Brownback to attempt to condition his vote on Neff agreeing to recuse herself from any gay marriage cases.

I have to say though, I am not at all heartened by what I’ve read about Neff thus far. In a nutshell, she does not strike me as a judicial conservative, and one is only left to wonder why in the world President Bush nominated her in the first place.

Well, the president did nominate Harriet Miers, so I guess that explains the Neff nomination (in part), now doesn’t it?

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Posted at 3:32pm on Dec. 5, 2006 New District Court Nominee

By Curt Levey

Today, the President nominated Frederick J. Kapala of Illinois to be a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, replacing Judge Philip Reinhard, who is retiring.

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Posted at 4:46pm on Nov. 26, 2006 Brownback Still Waiting

By Curt Levey

An Associated Press story today reports, in its opening sentence, that Sen. Brownback (R- Kan.) "is considering whether to stop blocking [liberal district court nominee Janet Neff] over concerns her appearance at a lesbian commitment ceremony betrayed her legal views on gay marriage." The story is based on comments Brownback made during an appearance this morning on ABC's ''This Week." But a read of the full article and a review of the show's transcript reveals there's nothing new here.

Sen. Brownback merely stated a virtual truism – "I don't think it necessarily does" – when asked whether attending the lesbian commitment ceremony of a next-door neighbor should "disqualify someone from the federal bench." Brownback then went on to repeat what he has previously said: "what I want to know is what does it do to her look at the law? What does she consider the law on same-sex marriage, on civil unions, and I'd want to consider that."

My point here is to set the record straight. I'm not rooting for Sen. Brownback to indefinitely maintain the hold on Neff. While I hope Neff will reverse her refusal to answer Brownback's written questions on a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, Republicans should stick to their principles and use holds in the pursuit of additional information, not as an indefinite delaying tactic. If it becomes clear that getting additional information from Neff is hopeless, the hold should be lifted and a floor vote should proceed with each senator taking into account Neff's refusal to answer Brownback's query.

On a more practical note, removing the hold on Neff would assumably result in Sens. Levin (D - Mich.) and Stabenow (D - Mich.) removing their hold on the two more conservative nominees to the Western District of Michigan.

(cross-posted at CFJ’s blog)

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Posted at 10:42am on Nov. 16, 2006 Mirengoff on the Rogan Nomination

By AndrewHyman

Paul Mirengoff says:

President Bush has nominated former Rep. James Rogan to be a district judge in California (central district). Rogan was one of the House floor managers during the Senate impeachment trial of President Clinton....It's quite rare for district court nominees to face serious resistance but it's also quite rare to have an impeached president's wife in the Senate.

And rare for a GOP Chairman of the Judiciary Committee to block multiple nominees of a GOP President.

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Posted at 7:30am on Oct. 15, 2006 “Brownback won’t back down [on the Neff nomination]”

By Feddie

The Grand Rapids Press has the latest on Senator Sam Brownback’s hold on Judge Janet Neff’s nomination:

"There’s been a five-year fight to get judges appointed from West Michigan and I don’t relish getting into the middle of this," said Brownback, an opponent of gay marriages and a presidential hopeful. "But I’m pursuing this and trying to get information factually as to what exactly happened, and whether this was a legal or illegal ceremony at the time, and what it reveals about (Neff’s) judicial philosophy."

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Posted at 7:16pm on Sep. 29, 2006 3 New District Court Nominations

By Dave II

The White House has just announced three new North Carolina district court nominees. These nominees have been long awaited, as North Carolina has the highest percentage of vacancies in the nation right now. Let's find out about the nominees!

READ MORE BELOW ....

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Posted at 3:40pm on Sep. 28, 2006 About That Other "Unqualified" Nominee ...

By Dave II

When Michael Wallace had his hearing on Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, another nominee whom the ABA tried to derail also finally got a hearing. That nominee was Connecticut Superior Court Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant, whom Bush nominated to the U.S. District Court of Connecticut on January 25, 2006.

Here's an account of how seriously the Dems are taking her ABA rating. So much for the "gold standard."

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Posted at 1:32pm on Sep. 26, 2006 New District Judge Confirmed

By Dave II

Yesterday, the Senate confirmed Francisco Augusto Besosa to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of Puerto Rico. The vote was 87-0.

Besosa replaces Judge Juan M. Perez-Gimenez, a Carter appointee. Bush has now appointed three judges to the District of Puerto Rico, and all three were appointed in 2006.

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Posted at 10:11am on Sep. 24, 2006 Tuesday in the Judiciary Committee

By AndrewHyman

On September 26, both a special business meeting and a hearing are scheduled.

Hopefully, the special business meeting on Tuesday will report out several circuit court nominees, like Judge Terrence Boyle who has been waiting forever. Recent nominees Peter Keisler and Kent Jordan will also be ready for a committee vote on Tuesday. And, both William "Gerry" Myers and William "Jim" Haynes will probably be discussed at the Tuesday business meeting as well. Background info about these nominees is here.

As for the hearing on Tuesday, district court nominee Vanessa Bryant will likely be among those on the agenda, according to the Hartford Courant. She's a state court judge who's backed by Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell. This is another instance where anonymous people are saying that a nominee isn’t qualified. Note what Senator Specter said about the nomination of Michael Wallace a few weeks ago:

I do not think they oughta be anonymous if we're to base a Senate judgment on them. It does not give the nominee a chance to defend himself.

Judge Bryant would be the only African-American woman on the federal trial bench in New England. Here’s what Norm Pattis (editor of the blog Crime and Federalism) wrote in an op/ed for the Hartford Courant:

We have a very clubby federal bar in Connecticut. Vanessa Bryant may not be a member of that club, but that's not a reason to hide behind "off the record" comments and seek to derail her candidacy. If we're going to debate her candidacy, let's name names. This cloak and dagger whispering campaign is juvenile and petty.

Pattis notes that there are "plenty of horse whisperers afraid to speak publicly."

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Posted at 8:49pm on Sep. 21, 2006 Real Impeachment News

By Dan McLaughlin

Law.com has a rundown of the doings at today's House Judiciary Commitee impeachment hearings for Los Angeles US District Judge Manuel Real. (H/T). Howard Bashman also links to a report by a commission chaired by Justice Breyer which found that the Ninth Circuit had failed adequately to investigate the charges against Judge Real (a Lyndon Johnson appointee). Stay tuned.

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Posted at 12:16am on Sep. 6, 2006 Three New District Court Nominations Today

By Dave II

Tonight, the White House announced three new District Court nominees. Let's break it down by nominee!

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Posted at 2:25pm on Aug. 17, 2006 Why Judicial Nominations Matter: War on Terrorism Edition

By Dan McLaughlin

Over at RedState, I discuss the decision by a Carter-appointed judge to strike down the NSA program tasked with surveillance of Al Qaeda.

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Posted at 4:13pm on Jun. 8, 2006 4 New District Judges Confirmed (Updated)

By Dave II

This post has been updated at 7:58 to note who the new judges are replacing.

Today is just a great day it seems. Zarqawi has been killed, the Iraq government is complete, and today the Senate defeated the Hawaii Government bill. But wait there's more! The Senate confirmed FOUR District Court judges. Some of these judges had been waiting years. Just as the Senate cleared the District judges from its calendar, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent Andrew Guilford (California District nominee) to them. The only downside is that North Carolina District nominee Frank Whitney was held over. Still, today is a good news day.

Let's break it down by nominee judge below!

Two New Jersey Judges and two Michigan Judges were confirmed today.

First, Noel Lawrence Hillman (nominated 01/25/06), 49, was confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey by 98-0. Hillman replaces William Bassler, a G.H.W. Bush appointee. Of all the nominees confirmed today, Hillman is the only one who can't complain. He was nominated less than 5 months ago, while his fellow nominees have all been waiting for years. Hillman graduated from Seton Hall Law School and has been in the United States Attorney's Office since 1992. For the past five years, he has been Chief of the Public Integrity Section at the Department of Justice. Hillman also clerked for Judge Maryanne Trump Barry when she was on the U.S. District Court.

Second, Peter Sheridan (nominated 11/05/03), 56, was confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey 98-0. He replaces Stephen Orlofsky, a Clinton appointee (nice). Sheridan graduated from Seton Hall Law School, and has many years of experience both in government and private practice. From 1993-94 he was Executive Director of the State Republican Committee.

Sean Cox (nominated 9/10/04), 48, was confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by voice vote. He replaces Lawrence Zatkoff, a Reagan appointee. Cox graduated from the Detroit College of Law and has many years of experience in private practice. Since 1996, he has been a state trial judge in Michigan.

Thomas Ludington (nominated 9/12/02), 46, was confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by voice vote. He replaces Paul Gadola, a Reagan appointee. Judge Ludington has been a state trial judge in Michigan for the past several years. At nearly 4 years, he was the longest waiting District Court nominee that I'm aware of from the Bush administration. Today his wait came to an end.

Next week the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on judges, but no word just who yet. If the Senate makes any plans for confirmation of some of the Circuit judges on its calendar, I will update as usual.

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Posted at 11:09pm on Jun. 1, 2006 New Michigan Judges Imminent

By Dave II

According to this article in the Grand Rapids Press, the White House will soon announce four new nominees to the U.S. District Court in Michigan, the state with the most and and the longest-standing vacancies. (Sean Cox and Thomas Ludington were nominated earlier and are awaiting Senate confirmation.)

But only two of them are worth getting excited about. That's because the other two are Democrats.

In a deal that mirrors the Susan Wigenton deal struck with New Jersey Democrats several months ago, the White House will nominate two Democrats and two Republicans in exchange for Michigan Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow ending their obstruction of all Michigan nominees. That means that in the end, a total two Democrats and four Republicans will take the bench.

I feel for the White House on this one. They've held out a long time, but now they're being forced to make the same type of deals that Clinton made near the end of his second term. Of course, the key difference here is that Bush has the largest Republican Senate majority in 55 years, one that could easily have solved this problem for him, and Clinton was faced with a majority opposition. But Bush is getting about as much support for his nominees from this Senate as Clinton did in 98-2000, so I don't know what choice the White House really has here.

The article also states that the Michigan Deal will allow the White House to fill the two remaining Sixth Circuit vacancies. If both of those are going to good conservatives, then I will have few complaints. A few District judgeships are small potatoes compared to cementing a conservative takeover of one of the most important Courts of Appeals. It's just a travishamockery that it has come to this with a Republican Senate.

Hat Tip to the excellent How Appealing.

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Posted at 11:51pm on May 23, 2006 District Court Nominees Get Hearing on Wednesday

By Dave II

Turns out my tipster last night was right. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on District Court nominees Andrew Guilford and Frank Whitney at 2PM on Wednesday. Although the agenda lists other witnesses "TBA," that likely means Senators or other witnesses on behalf of Guilford and Whitney, not other judges. Fifth Circuit nominee Michael Brunson Wallace is being skipped over again for a hearing. It is clear at this point that getting him confirmed will mean a tremendous fight.

More about Guilford and Whitney below the fold ...

Andrew Guilford , 55, was nominated on January 25, 2006 to fill a vacancy left by Dickran Tevrizian , a Reagan appointee, on the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Guilford is a graduate of UCLA Law and, since 1975, has worked at Sheppard Mullin in California.

Frank Whitney , 46, was nominated on February 14, 2006 to fill a vacancy left by H. Brent McKnight , a previous Bush appointee, on the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Whitney is currently the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has worked in private practice, including Kilpratrick Stockton, and an earlier stint at the U.S. Attorneys Office during both Bush Administrations and the Clinton Administration. Since 1982, Whitney has been in the Army Reserves. North Carolina currently has five District vacancies, so his help on the bench is sorely needed.

Guilford has been rated unanimously "Well Qualified," but Whitney has only been rated unanimously "Qualified." This despite Whitney having the more diverse experience, though Guilford has been practicing a few years longer than Whitney. To me, this smacks of ABA prejudice against government and public service. I may be wrong, but that's the only difference between the two that just jumps out.

The White House did not nominate any new judges tonight. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an Executive Business Meeting on Thursday, though the agenda is not yet out. Ninth Circuit nominee Sandra Ikuta is likely to be part of it though.

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Posted at 6:09pm on Mar. 11, 2006 The Kavanaugh Obstruction

By Marshall Manson

Earlier, Andrew posted about Senate Dems' demand to hold another hearing on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the D.C. Circuit. It's hard to imagine a more abvious example of overt Democratic obstruction. I attended Mr. Kavanaugh's first confirmation hearing in 2004. Sat through the whole thing. The Dems asked some questions, but, as is their practice, mostly fed their appetite for grandstanding. They asked almost nothing of substance. After a partial round of questionning (most Senators didn't bother to show up), the hearing ended.

So why have another hearing? There's only one possible answer: delay. But if the Alito hearings demonstrated anything, it's that the American people have had enough of the Democrats grandstanding on judicial confirmations. Chuck Schumers' theory (crafted with aid and comfort form Laurence Tribe among others) that ideology should be a part of hearings was soundly drubbed. Brett Kavanaugh is more than sufficiently qualified. He has an excellent background. It's time for the Senate to get busy confirming him.

And I agree with Andrew. One the surface, last year's deal should only enhance his chances. But the lack of pregress on appellate court nominees makes me wonder if there weren't additional elements to the deal agreed on between Senators behind closed doors.

Whatever the reason for the delay, it's time to get the process moving again. The Senate has a job to do. It should do it.

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