No justice in partisan fight over judges

[usregimechange]

In perhaps no other area is Congress' crisis of leadership more glaring than with judicial nominations. In the last generation, the courts have become the very epicenter of partisan warfare, but since President Obama was inaugurated, confirmations have come to a standstill as Republicans block even the most non-controversial nominees. The fight over judges paralyzes the administration of justice and provides the perfect lens into the Senate's failings.

In a study released last month, the Center for American Progress found that Obama's nominees have been held up to an unprecedented degree. Barely more than 50 percent of the president's selections to federal courts have been confirmed - only 42 total. This includes dozens of district court nominees, lower-court figures who have always been smoothly approved, as their work is done at the trial level.

Obama's confirmation rate stands in stark contrast to rates over the past 35 years and is half that of four of his five immediate predecessors. Strikingly, through this point in George W. Bush's tenure, 52 percent of his nominees had been approved by what was a 50-50 Senate as Democrats blocked a small number of appellate choices. This disparity remains even as Obama has refused to employ the heated rhetoric President Bush used on the issue and has tapped a stream of non-controversial moderates nearly exclusively, much to the consternation of liberals.

Republicans have exploited an array of filibusters, holds and other tactics in their parliamentary toolbox to thwart nearly every nomination. The GOP's intransigence comes in a Democratic-dominated Senate and with a president who, despite his current low public approval ratings, was decisively elected. These moves are a disproportionate reaction to Democrats' regrettable, but nonetheless limited, prior filibusters, and they ignore the will of the voters in the last national election.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/21/INEO1EP1GO.DTL#ixzz0xTIkfje7