Judiciary Watch

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.”