Content by Dave II
Posted at 11:42pm on May 26, 2006 The Judge Report: At Long Last Kavanaugh! 05/26/06
By Dave II
Today, the Senate confirmed two judges: Brett Kavanaugh to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Susan Davis Wigenton to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. One of them is cause for the most celebration since Alito's confirmation; the other for the most shrugging of shoulders since Milan Smith was confirmed. Let's break it down by judge!
Brett Kavanaugh, nominated July 25, 2003 to the D.C. Circuit, was finally confirmed today just shy of three years. Once one of the longest stalled nominees, he will now be one of the most influential judges. At 41, he is not just young for a Circuit judge, but is now the youngest in the nation. He is universally regarded as brilliant and steadfastly conservative. A two-time graduate of Yale, with clerkships with Judge Stapleton of the Third Circuit and Justice Kennedy at the Supreme Court, Kavanaugh has worked briefly in private practice at Kirkland Ellis, and was part of Ken Starr's Office of Independent Counsel. He has been with the Bush White House from the beginning, first as Associate Counsel, and since 2003 as Staff Secretary.
Kavanaugh joins fellow Bush judges Janice Rogers Brown and Thomas Griffith on the D.C. Circuit, where he now tips the party divide on the court 7-3 in favor of the Republicans, with two vacancies left. Kavanaugh replaces retired Judge Laurence Silberman, a respected Reagan appointee.
As everyone knows, the D.C. Circuit is a court with unique power, second only to the Supreme Court in influence, and therefore the judges there must be selected very carefully. Its jurisdiction over the lion's share of civil cases involving the federal government makes it uniquely influential over public policy involving the Administration and every federal agency. It also hears the majority of cases involving the War on Terror. With the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, it appears that Bush has indeed picked the right man for the job. Kavanaugh should be another William Pryor, another Janice Rogers Brown, and another John Roberts--a great judge who can help straighten out the Art. III branch and return it to its proper and modest role of resolving "cases and controversies." In other words, Kavanaugh is one of the shining stars among all of Bush's nominees. His confirmation today was big.
If Kavanaugh's confirmation was in the tradition of William Pryor and Janice Rogers Brown, the other judge today was confirmed in the tradition of Milan Smith: a judge beloved by Democrats and insiders, but not many others. Susan Davis Wigenton was supposedly nominated by Bush to the District Court in New Jersey at the request of New Jersey Democrats and in exchange for the confirmation of his other District Court nominees and Michael Chagares to the Third Circuit. (That's what the news reports all suggested.) Today, she's been confirmed, but the rest have not. Her fellow nominees, the Republican carrots on the Democratic stick, will have to wait a little longer. There is some good news though, Renee Bumb will get a vote on the morning of June 6th. No word yet on the other nominees, Sheridan, and Hillman.
Wigenton replaces John Bissell, a Reagan appointee.
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Posted at 11:54pm on May 25, 2006 The Judge Report: Two New Nominees for D.C. Court of Appeals, 05/26/06
By Dave II
NOT the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. We're still waiting for those nominees.
The D.C. Court of Appeals is the equivalent of a state supreme court for the District of Columbia. It is not an Article III court. It consists of nine judges appointed by the President to 15 year terms. Tonight, the President nominated two new judges. Let's break it down by nominee!
Anne Blackburne-Rigsby will replace Judge Frank Schwelb, a Reagan appointee, who is retiring. Blackburne-Rigsby is currently a judge on the D.C. Superior Court, and was apparently appointed to that court by Clinton. (Presidents make appointments from a field of three nominees recommended by a selection board. This is supposed to weed out political favoritism and such.)
Phyllis D. Thompson will replace John Terry, who I imagine is a Reagan or G.H.W. Bush appointee, who is retired. Thompson is an attorney at the law firm of Covington & Burling, and she graduated from George Washington Law School in D.C.
The court currently has only 8 active members, so the appointment of these two judges will restore it to 9 judges and a 5-4 majority of Republican-appointed judges. Blackburne-Rigsby and Thompson will be the third and fourth judges appointed to the court by Bush.
Cross posted at ConfirmThem.
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Posted at 12:04am on May 24, 2006 The Judge Report: District Court Nominees Get Hearing, 05/24/06
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 apparently being skipped over again for a hearing. It is clear at this point that getting him confirmed will mean a tremendous fight.
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.
Cross posted at Confirm Them.
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Posted at 7:52pm on May 22, 2006 The Judge Report: Cloture Filed on Kavanaugh, 05/22/06
By Dave II
Senate Majority Leader Frist filed cloture this evening on D.C. Circuit nominee Brett Kavanaugh. This ensures that a vote on his nomination WILL take place this week before the recess. Probably on Friday.
I remain hopeful that some other judges (probably District Court judges) will get confirmed this week too by unanimous consent.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on judicial nominatons on Wednesday, and an Executive Business Meeting on Friday. The agendas don't have any names on them just yet, but when they do the Judge Report will let you know.
I've joined ConfirmThem as a blogger, so I will be cross-posting things from now on.
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Posted at 10:45am on May 19, 2006 The Judge Report: TWO New Circuit Court Nominees! 05/19/06
By Dave II
Last night, the White House nominated two new Circuit Court judges. Let's break it down by nominee:
Kimberly Ann Moore to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She is a law professor at George Mason University, and the Daily Journal had an article indicating that she is extremely well-thought of in the highly specialized field the Fed Cir operates in. That article can be found online here.
Moore will be Bush's second appointment to the Federal Circuit, following Sharon Prost in 2001. She will replace Raymond Clevenger III, who was appointed by G.H.W. Bush. The Court is currently divided 7-4 among Republicans and Democrats.
Bobby E. Shepherd to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Since 1993, he has been a Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. However, I have not yet found any other information as to what he did in the 17 years between graduating from law school and becoming a magistrate. Anything that comes up will be placed in comments as updates.
Shepherd will be Bush's seventh (!) appointment to the Eighth Circuit, a court to which he has already appointed a majority of judges (6 of 11). Shepherd will replace Morris Shepard Arnold, a G.H.W. Bush appointee, who has announced he will take Senior Status in October. The Eighth Circuit is, by percentage, the most Republican in the nation with 9 of its 11 judges appointed by Republican Presidents. Because Shepherd will replace a Bush I appointee that balance will not change. But I'm happy to see it maintained!
The Senate did not confirm any new judges yesterday, and they are not scheduled to do so today. Many District Court and several Circuit Court nominees continue to languish before them for who knows why.
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Posted at 7:08pm on May 18, 2006 The Judge Report: 9th Circuit Nominee Ikuta DELAYED!
By Dave II
Well, the delay in confirming judges continues. After so much promise in late April/early May, the Senate has lost interest in confirming judges who are not related to Senators.
To that end, Sandra Segal Ikuta, who was on the agenda for today's Judiciary Committee meeting, was held over. That is what was told to me when I called the Committee, and I didn't inquire as to specifics. Could be they just didn't get to her (after all, there was a shouting match today over the Marriage Amendment). There's always next week.
The only other news today is that the Committee has scheduled a hearing on Judicial Nominations for next Wednesday. No announcement on which nominees will be at the hearing, but I hope it's Michael Brunson Wallace. As the last of Bush's Circuit Court nominees to get a hearing, he's due. There needs to be a very diligent and serious inquiry by the Republicans as to why a nominee with such a distinguished career was unanimously rated "Not Qualified." With the information currently available about Wallace, that rating is simply mind-boggling.
There White House did not nominate any judges today. They are letting the chances of getting new nominees confirmed slip through their fingers. Pretty soon there will not be enough time to get new nominees through the grinding wheels of the Senate.
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Posted at 1:27am on May 17, 2006 The Judge Report: New 9th Circuit Judge CONFIRMED, 05/16/06
By Dave II
Today, the Senate confirmed the first new 9th Circuit judge in 3 years, and the White House nominated a new District Court judge.
Milan Smith was CONFIRMED, 93-0, to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today. Smith, a moderate Republican, and brother of Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), was nominated by Bush on Valentine's Day. Smith is 64 years old and has spent his career almost exclusively in corporate and real estate law.
Smith is the first new Bush appointment to the Ninth Circuit since Carlos Bea in 2003. He is the fifth judge Bush has appointed to that Court (to compare other two-term Presidents, Clinton got 14 appointments to the 9th, Reagan had 10).
Smith replaces A. Wallace Tashima, a Clinton appointee. Confirm Them has reaction to Smith's confirmation here. As of Smith's confirmation, the Ninth Circuit now boasts 9 Republicans and 16 Democrats. It remains the most Democratic Court in the nation.
There are three other vacancies on the 9th. Bush has named nominees for all the vacancies. Two of them, Randy Smith and Sandra Ikuta are likely to be confirmed sometime between now and July. (Gerry Myers, the third nominee, has been stalled forever and basically has no prospect of getting confirmed.)
Smith is only the second Circuit Judge confirmed this year. Michael Chagares was confirmed last month to the Third Circuit. Brett Kavanaugh will likely soon become the third judge confirmed.
Supposedly, the White House has got about 20 new nominees ready to go, but today it announced only one: Franciso Augusto Besosa to the U.S. District Court of Puerto Rico. He will replace Juan Perez-Giminez, a Carter appointee. Generally, replacing Carter appointees is something to be happy about.
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Posted at 2:11pm on May 11, 2006 The Judge Report: Kavanaugh Free at Last! 05/11/06
By Dave II
Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted three judges out to the Senate floor. Let's break it down by nominee.
Brett Kavanaugh: Originally nominated to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on 07/25/03, two Committee hearings and nearly three years later, he finally moves to the Senate floor for a vote. The Committee moved him out on a party line 10-8 vote. This vote continues to demonstrate that elections matter and giving Democrats extra hearings doesn't. Whenever Kavanaugh gets confirmed, he'll be replacing Laurence Silberman, a Reagan appointee.
Sean F. Cox: Nominated on 02/14/05 for the Eastern District Court of Michigan. Over a year later he moves to the Senate floor on a voice vote. The voice vote further shows that there's no controversy here; he's been held up for over a year merely because Michigan Senator Carl Levin has political grudges to nurse. But he's finally relented.
Thomas L. Ludington: Nominated on 09/12/2002 to the Eastern District Court of Michigan, Ludington is one of the longest suffering Bush nominees in the Senate. He's been waiting for nearly 4 years! I've never heard of anything controversial about him, he just had the misfortune to be a Republican in a state with a bitter Democrat Senator. He was moved out of Committee today on a voice vote and is at last on his way to helping the people of Michigan.
Both Ludington and Cox are currently state trial court judges in Michigan.
But when will their confirmation votes come? Just last week, the Senate was practically on a warpath of confirmation, giving nominees votes almost every other night it seemed. Now, however, all is quiet. The Smith Boys and the New Jersey Four have been waiting for a week, and there hasn't been any word from Frist on when he will call for what should be easy votes.
Frist had previously promised that Kavanaugh would be confirmed by Memorial Day. However, he's already backpedaling on his word. Earlier today, Frist and Harry Reid announced on the Senate floor that next week they will again take up "Immigration Reform." As Quin Hilyer is reporting at Confirm Them, Frist is starting to say that the immigration business could push Kavanaugh (and others presumably) back into June. I'm with Quin, not getting these judges confirmed without delay would be a betrayal. Unfortunately, it's only one of many we've seen from this Senate leadership.
If there are any confirmations or nominations later today, I will update this post in the evening.
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Posted at 8:47pm on May 10, 2006 The Judge Report: 2006 Is the New 2005! 05/10/06
By Dave II
The Summer of 2005, the Summer of Loathing, is back. Last summer, tensions simmered and flared for months over several Bush judges who had been stalled and smeared for years. For months we waited for a vote on the nuclear option to break Democrat filibusters only to have John McCain come charging in like Mr. Incredible to save us all from something we didn't want to be saved from. What we got: a political compromise that broke the Republicans' spirit, got a few nominees confirmed, discarded a few more, and, most importantly, brought tremendous media coverage to John McCain. When the Republicans lose seats in 2006 and McCain runs in 2008, remember. The Gang of 14 is when the dreams of 2004 were washed away for the benefit of a man who desires the White House above all things.
And now, one year later, the fight is back. The Gang of 14 ceasefire on judicial nominations is about to be tested, and Republican principles and determination to lead will be tested even more severely. Today, the battle lines became more clearly drawn.
First, Fifth Circuit nominee Michael Brunson Wallace was given a unanimous (!) "Not Qualified" rating by the American Bar Association. This rating is shocking, stunning, stupefying, and other words beginning with the letter S. Wallace graduated from Harvard and the University of Virginia, clerked for Justice Rehnquist, and is a long-standing practicing partner in a Mississippi law firm. Oh yeah, he's also general counsel for the Mississippi Republican Party and served as counsel to Trent Lott during the Clinton impeachment hearings. See if you can guess why the ABA doesn't think he's qualified.
There is an unforunate history surrounding the seat Wallace is nominated to. Originally, Bush picked Charles Pickering to fill it, but he was filibustered. And after his recess appointment expired without a vote, he retired. Bush has once again attempted to fill it with a qualified conservative, and once again it's clear that there interest groups out there who don't want it to happen. The ABA rating will be used to justify blocking Wallace (People For the American Way has already called for his withdrawal), and I expect Dems will use this excuse to filibuster him.
Wallace's resume speaks for itself, and unless the ABA found something that the White House and the FBI inexplicably missed, he should be confirmed. The White House and the GOP need to strongly support Wallace and expose this for the railroading it is.
In other news, J. Michael Luttig has resigned from the Fourth Circuit to become a wealthy Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Boeing. Luttig, once considered a favorite for the Supreme Court, has been a pillar of conservatism and influence in the judiciary for the past 15 years, but it has become clear that he was not likely to get promoted to the Supreme Court anytime soon. Not saying that's what prompted this, but Luttig is moving on. I wish him well, but the country lost a fantastic judge today.
Finally, some good news! The White House has nominated Neil M. Gorsuch to the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Gorsuch currently works at the Justice Department. He will replace David Ebel, a Reagan appointee, in Colorado. Gorsuch is a good conservative, and there will be a fight over him, just like there is over every good conservative (see Randy Smith, Michael Wallace, Brett Kavanaugh, Terrence Boyle, and on and on). It's clear there will be some friction because he does not yet have the full support of his Senators from Colorado. (See here.) Republican Wayne Allard is supporting him, but "moderate" Democrat Ken Salazar is reserving judgment. (See How Appealing and Confirm Them for more.)
No other nominations or confirmations today. We've lost one good judge today, but it's too bad the Senate hasn't seen fit to fill that void with the confirmation of some of the judges that have been waiting since last week.
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Posted at 8:18pm on May 9, 2006 The Judge Report: Kavanaugh Hearing Round 2, 05/09/06
By Dave II
Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a second hearing on D.C. Circuit nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
How Appealing has links to video and various reports on the hearing here.
The hearing was about 3 hours long, and at the end, Chairman Arlen Specter once again reiterated his intention to move Kavanaugh to the Senate floor this Thursday. No word yet on whether the Dems will be able to delay this vote somehow. The word from Republicans is that Kavanaugh's confirmation this month is practically inevitable, but it sure is a slow march towards inevitability.
And that's it. The nominations and confirmations that we all know are coming very soon did not begin yet today. Well, tomorrow's another day.