Judiciary Watch

Seante confirms 4 nominees to district courts

The Senate this week confirmed four district court nominees, James Donato (90-5) and Beth Freeman (91-7) for the Northern District of California, Jeffrey Meyer (91-2) for the District of Connecticut and James Moody, Jr. (95-4) for the Eastern District of Arkansas.  Democrats had to force a vote on the Senate floor to overcome Republican opposition to the nominations, which were subsequently approved with vast majorities. 

Donato is a 1988 graduate of Stanford Law School and was a partner with Shearman & Sterling prior to taking the bench.  Freeman is a 1979 graduate of Harvard Law School and was Presiding Judge for the San Mateo County Superior Court from 2001 to 2014.  Meyer is a 1989 graduate of Yale Law School and was a professor at Quinnipiac Univ. School of Law and Yale Law School Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic.  Moody is a 1989 graduate of the Univ. of Arkansas Bowen School of Law and was a Circuit Judge for the Sixth Judicial District of Arkansas. 

There are currently 28 nominees who have been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee awaiting votes by the full Senate. 

Wilkins confirmed to D.C. Circuit

The Senate yesterday, by a 55-43 vote,  confirmed Hon. Robert Wilkins to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  Wilkins was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2010. Prior to taking the bench he was a partner with the Venerable law firm for 10 years.  After a tough battle in the Senate, Wilkins became the fourth Obama nominee confirmed to the influential D.C. Circuit.

Judiciary Committee vote on nominees delayed

Hon. Robert Wilkins is the only of President Obama’s judicial nominations held over from 2013.  The other 54, who were re-nominated by the White House earlier this week, will have to begin the confirmation process with a new vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Committee Republicans delayed the first vote scheduled on 29 nominees, taking advantage of a rule giving the minority party the right to “hold over” a nominee the first time they appear on the agenda for a vote without citing any reason.  Nine of the nominees who were held over were approved by the Committee last year.

President Obama’s judicial nominees after five years

According to a Brookings Institution report, the federal courts had more judicial vacancies at the end of 2013 than at the beginning of President Obama’s first term.  The report found that in 2009 seven courts of appeals had a majority of Republican appointed active judges, whereas today, seven courts have a majority of Democratic appointees.  Five-year rates of appellate confirmations were almost the same as those of the Bush and Clinton administrations, but district confirmation rates well below the Bush administration’s and slightly lower than Clinton’s.  Obama has a 76 percent success rate in getting circuit nominees confirmed— almost the same as Bush’s and Clinton’s.  He has an 80 percent success rate for district nominees, much lower than Bush’s 97 percent rate.

Senate confirms two to D.C. Circuit

The Senate this week confirmed two of President Obama’s nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  Georgetown Univ. Law professor Nina Pillard was confirmed by a 51-44 vote early Thursday morning, with no Republican voting in her favor. Earlier, the Senate confirmed Akin Gump partner Patricia Millett by a 56-38 vote, with two Republicans joining the Democrats.  Senate Republicans’ objections to adding more judges to the D.C. Circuit prompted Democrats to change the Senate's filibuster rules, stripping the minority party's right to block almost all judicial nominations and allowing both votes to go through.

Ninth Circuit to stream en banc hearings

As reported by the L.A. Times, the 9th Circuit announced this week that it would become the first U.S. Appeals Court to provide live video coverage of hearings on important cases.  While the court previously permitted media outlets to broadcast live coverage in some cases, the new policy allows all en banc hearings to be live streamed on the court’s website beginning December 9.  Chief Judge Alex Kozinski said, “Video streaming is a way to open the court's doors even wider so that more people can see and hear what transpires in the courtroom, particularly in regard to some of our most important cases.”

Senate changes filibuster rule

The Senate yesterday voted 52-48 to overturn a Senate rule that allowed a minority party to block presidential nominations.  The move, often referred to as the “nuclear option,” was in response to Republican’s use of the filibuster to block President Obama’s three nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  Before the rule change, a nomination needed 60 votes to overcome a filibuster.  Now, a simple majority can force an up-or-down vote.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid immediately called for a new vote on the nomination of Patricia Millett for the D.C. court, and after a 55-43 vote, Millett’s nomination is set for December 9.

Reid said the move was necessary because of the gridlock in the nomination process, saying that “there has been unbelievable, unprecedented obstruction.”  He said that half of the filibusters of executive and judicial nominations have been during the Obama administration.  The rule will not apply to Supreme Court nominations. 

Senate Republicans block Millett nomination

The Senate yesterday blocked the nomination of Patricia Millett for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  Millett needed 60 votes to clear a hurdle to bring her nomination to a vote, but received just 55 votes in her favor.  Republicans have argued that the D.C. Circuit does not need any more judges and accused President Obama of trying to shift the balance of power on the court.  The vote yesterday had some Democrats considering changes to Senate rules that would prevent the future filibuster of nominees.

Senate fight over judicial nominees nears

Majority Leader Harry Reid announced yesterday that he wants to move forward on “a number of vital nominations” before the Thanksgiving break.  He accused Republicans of delaying or blocking "scores of President Obama's judicial and executive branch nominations" creating a backlog.  Reid filed a cloture motion on the nomination of Patricia Millett, one of President Obama’s three picks for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, setting her up for a Senate vote later this week. Republicans have argued that the circuit court’s caseload is too small to necessitate filling any of the open seats.  There are currently 91 total vacancies on the federal courts with 50 nominations pending.

Obama set to nominate three to D.C. Circuit Court

Legal Times reports that President Obama later today will name three nominees for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  According to a White House official, the nominees are Patricia Millett of Akin, Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; Cornelia "Nina" Pillard, a former Justice Department lawyer and current Georgetown University Law Center professor; and Hon. Robert Wilkins, a district judge in Washington.  Wilkins was confirmed to the trial bench in 2010.  Both Millett and Pillard have extensive experience before the Supreme Court.  None of the nominees is controversial, however Republican law makers contend the D.C. Circuit does not need more judges based on its declining case load and it is expected they will oppose the nominees.