How Appealing



Thursday, March 17, 2005

“Split Panel Sends Renominated Candidate to Full Senate”: In Friday’s edition of The New York Times, Neil A. Lewis will have an article that begins, “Voting along strict party lines, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the first of President Bush’s appeals court nominees on Thursday, hastening the Senate’s march to a large-scale partisan breakdown.”

Posted at 10:54 PM by Howard Bashman



“What Is a Journalist? News consumers will ultimately bestow credence to those blog reporters with high standards.” This editorial will appear Friday in The Christian Science Monitor.

Posted at 10:22 PM by Howard Bashman



Round two approaching for Ninth Circuit nominee William Gerry Myers III: As I first noted here earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning by a party-line vote of 10-8 recommended to the full U.S. Senate the confirmation of William Gerry Myers III to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The transcripts of several sets of remarks delivered at this morning’s Judiciary Committee executive business meeting are now available online. In addition to the remarks of Ranking Democratic Member Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT), you can also access online the remarks of Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and the remarks of Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI).

In the last Senate, a cloture request on the Myers nomination failed by a vote of 53-44. Some news coverage and commentary relating to that vote remains available online. Back then, Neil A. Lewis of The New York Times reported that “7th Candidate for Judgeship Is Blocked by Democrats.” Helen Dewar of The Washington Post reported that “Democrats Block 7th Nominee to Bench; Senators Cite Myers’s Approach To Environment.” The Washington Times, by contrast, reported that “Democrats block 6th judge pick.” And The Idaho Statesman — the nominee’s hometown newspaper — published an editorial entitled “Rejection of Myers for court job shows system works.”

Posted at 10:14 PM by Howard Bashman



Congressional Research Service reports on the subject of judicial confirmations: As debate over the so-called “nuclear option” rages among various U.S. Senators, several CRS reports are worth a look.

The first is titled “Judicial Nomination Statistics: U.S. District and Circuit Courts, 1945-1976.”

The second is titled “Judicial Nomination Statistics: U.S. District and Circuit Courts, 1977-2003.”

The third, and most recently updated, is titled “Implications for the Senate of President Bush’s Proposal on Judicial Nominations.”

Both of the first two reports contain lots of statistics on the percentage of judicial nominees who won confirmation during the years under consideration. [Update: For those who would prefer to view this information in a chart, you can do so at this link.]

Three additional reports discuss filibusters and cloture: “Filibusters and Cloture in the Senate“; “Cloture Attempts on Nominations“; and “Senate Consideration of Presidential Nominations: Committee and Floor Procedure.”

Posted at 8:42 PM by Howard Bashman



Tenth Circuit affirms convictions of three Sisters in the Dominican Order found guilty of injuring or destroying national-defense materials or premises at a Minuteman III Missile site in Weld County, Colorado: You can access today’s unanimous ruling of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit at this link.

One of the three defendants was back in the news earlier this month. The Denver Post reported that “Nun won’t pay, may do more time.” The Rocky Mountain News reported that “Prison to free nun, but she balks at restitution.” The Seattle Times reported that “Nun will continue fighting nukes, at risk of returning to prison.” And The Associated Press reported that “Jailed nun won’t pay missile silo fine.”

Posted at 8:25 PM by Howard Bashman



“300 judges, many others attend Barnes service”: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution provides a news update that begins, “So many judges attended the memorial service Thursday honoring Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rowland W. Barnes that their procession, some two by two, took 15 minutes.”

Posted at 8:20 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court tosses lawsuit seeking public judge vetting”: David Kravets of The Associated Press reports here that “A federal appeals court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to make public the internal machinations of an influential committee which recommends to the president which Californians should be nominated to a federal judgeship.”

Posted at 7:38 PM by Howard Bashman



Ninth Circuit rejects lawsuit alleging that the Federal Judicial Qualifications Committee, formed by California’s U.S. Senators to recommend nominees to fill federal district court and U.S. Attorney vacancies in that State, had been meeting in private and without a charter, contrary to the Federal Advisory Committee Act: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

Posted at 12:55 PM by Howard Bashman



If candidates for elective state appellate court judgeships can’t rule on cases involving campaign donors, then who would be willing to donate to such campaigns? Here’s some significant news from Illinois. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch today contains an article headlined “Court says Karmeier can hear donor’s case” that begins, “In a decision that could affect Illinois’ debate over campaign reform, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Justice Lloyd Karmeier can’t be disqualified from a case because one of the parties has contributed to his political campaign.” The entire article is fascinating and should not be missed by anyone interested in judicial elections or judicial ethics.

In earlier coverage, as I previously noted here, The Post-Dispatch reported early last month that “Donations to judge figure in court case.”

Posted at 10:18 AM by Howard Bashman



“Rock’s Oldest Joke: Yelling ‘Freebird!’ In a Crowded Theater; It’s a Request, a Rebuke, A Cry From the Heart, A Tribute to Skynyrd.” This amusing article appears today on the front page of The Wall Street Journal.

Posted at 9:55 AM by Howard Bashman



“‘Right On, MoveOn!’ Senate Democrats join MoveOn to defend the filibuster.” Byron York has this essay today at National Review Online.

Posted at 9:35 AM by Howard Bashman



Developments in the Terri Schiavo matter: The St. Petersburg Times today contains articles headlined “U.S. House acts to save Schiavo; House members pass a late-night measure that allows Terri Schiavo’s parents to ask a federal court to review the case“; “Protesters gather at hospice; As Friday nears, demonstrators hold a vigil for Terri Schiavo“; and “A crusade against a ‘culture of death’: For Dennis Baxley, Terri Schiavo’s case is a personal fight.”

Meanwhile, The Tampa Tribune reports today that “Deadline Nears In Schiavo Case.”

Posted at 7:30 AM by Howard Bashman



“Tribe Opposes Appeals Court Nominee; Indians say William Myers lied at 9th Circuit confirmation hearings about actions he took while serving as Interior’s top lawyer”: Henry Weinstein has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold an executive business meeting during which the committee is likely to vote on the nomination of William Gerry Myers III to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

In related news and commentary, today The Boston Globe contains an editorial entitled “Again, no to this nominee.”

The Washington Post contains an editorial entitled “Three Nominees.”

The Washington Times reports that “Reid strategy called ‘desperation.’” The newspaper also contains an essay by Gary J. Andres entitled “Majority rule on judges.”

The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington, West Virginia reports that “Byrd blasts rule change drive; W.Va. senator urges others to fight GOPeffort to alter Senate procedure.”

The Standard-Times of New Bedford, Massachusetts reports that “Parties spar over GOP bid to end filibusters for judicial nominees.”

Investor’s Business Daily contains an editorial entitled “On Going Nuclear.”

The Daytona Beach News-Journal contains an editorial entitled “Return of checks and balances; U.S. Senate to President Bush: Give extremism a rest.”

In The Oregonian, columnist David Reinhard has an essay entitled “Judge not lest ye be … filibustered.”

And at FrontPageMagazine.com, Michael Reagan has an essay entitled “The Party of Obstruction.”

Posted at 7:10 AM by Howard Bashman