February 15, 2007
CONTACT: Curt Levey, (202) 270-7748
clevey@committeeforjustice.org
110th Congress Confirms Its First Appeals Court Judge
Historic Average of 17 Requires One Per Month
WASHINGTON, DC - The Committee for Justice (CFJ), which promotes constitutionalist judicial nominees and the rule of law, today congratulated Norman Randy Smith on his confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit the first appeals court confirmation of the 110th Congress and called on the Senate to keep up the pace necessary to meet historic standards.
"The Senate should be commended for its speedy handling of Smith's renomination," said CFJ executive director Curt Levey. "But we remind senators that a speedy pace must be maintained lest the Senate fall short of the historic average of 17 circuit court confirmations during a president's final two years in office. That number varied little from Reagan to the elder Bush to Clinton, despite the Senate being controlled by the opposition party each time. Were that number to suddenly decline during this president's last 2 years, senators would have a lot of explaining to do."
Levey emphasized that "meeting the historic benchmark requires that, on average, at least one circuit court nominee move through the Senate each month." Levey pointed to Judiciary Chairman Leahy's promise to virtually shut down the processing of judicial nominees after the spring of 2008.
"The responsibility for meeting this standard lies with Chairman Leahy and Majority Leader Reid, as well with the Senate's Republican leadership. Leahy needs to get at least one circuit nominee out of committee per month, Reid needs to schedule up-or-down floor votes at the same pace, and Republican senators may need to use their leverage to make that happen," explained Levey.
"The speedy administration of justice requires that the Senate move quickly to fill both circuit court and district court vacancies," Levey added. "Smith's confirmation leaves 15 appeals court vacancies almost all of them 'judicial emergencies' with many more to follow over the next two years. The President will continue to do his part to provide nominees, and if the Senate fails to keep pace, it will rightly be blamed for unnecessary delays in the justice system."
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