Howard points out that everyone was cruising along in the passing lane in the Judiciary Committee today for the four nominees to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. And just a few weeks ago, the Senate pressed on the gas to speedily confirm Michael Chagares 98-0 for a Third Circuit spot in New Jersey. Any ideas why New Jersey has been able to get its nominees through so quickly?
No Traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike Near the Article III Exit
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.
3 ideas:
1. The NJ senators are both Democrats. If Bush, Lautenberg and Corzine can agree on a nominee, that person is unlikely to get any trouble from anyone else.
2. It’s just a coincidence. Perhaps Chagares is uncontroversial and would have breezed through in any circuit, and the Senate isn’t willing to fight very hard over district judges.
3. The Third Circuit hasn’t offended anybody much lately (FAIR v. Rumsfeld aside — I don’t think many non-lawyers really cared about that one), it’s not a breeding ground for the Supremes like the DC Circuit, and it has a reputation as a moderate, “judicial” circuit without any flamboyantly political or doctrinaire judges on it. With Bush’s political capital low and the Senate tired after the Supreme Court nominations, neither party wants to be the first to rock the boat, and Bush isn’t looking to leave a legacy there. I.e. there’s more to be lost than gained by nominating someone controversial.
Just speculation, perhaps obvious speculation…
Much of the partisan bickering over judges can be traced back to disputes within a specific circuit.
Once upon a time, Jesse Helms blocked Clinton from appointing African-American judges to the Fourth Circuit; now Terrence Boyle is bogged down as an outgrowth of that dispute.
Republicans let two of Clinton’s Sixth Circuit nominees languish for years without a vote; Democrats have retaliated by delaying Bush’s Sixth Circuit nominations.
My point is not to play the “who started it” game, but simply to note that there is often an eye-for-an-eye quality to these disputes, particularly because there may be a specific home-state senator who holds a grudge.
Now, my theory might be invalidated if someone could point to a bloody Third Circuit dispute of recent vintage, but I can’t think of any. So you don’t have the specter of an angry Sen. Lautenberg holding a grudge because one of his prize nominees was blocked a decade ago.
Actually, the nomination of Brooks Smith to the 3d Cir some years ago was moderately controversial–Smith had made some silly Constitution-in-Exile type statements about Congress’s Commerce Clause power.
Apparently, then-Chief Judge Becker called Joe Biden to vouch for Smith. That broke the logjam.
At least one of the four seats (finally) being filled has been empty since the fall of 2003 (Camden, Orlofsky). So things have not been going as smoothly as the post would lead one to believe.
As for the others, last year, a disagreement erupted over Peter Sheridan. The “public” charcterization of the dispute was that Sheridan should not be seated in one of the “South Jersey” seats b/c he is from North Jersey. Privately, there was some chatter about whether he was intellectually fit for the job…. In any case, the old package languished until an additional seat opened, which could be filled with a South Jersey person, ending the stalemate.
In addition, confirmation was also delayed recently b/c the husband of one of the nominees, Susan Wiggenton, USMJ, is under investigation for alleged professional misconduct. According to published reports, the husband — also a lawyer — allegedly misappropriated a client’s funds(which, in New Jersey, is a trangression punishible by virtual automatic disbarment). The dust-up has quieted, and Wiggenton survived (but just barely, according to whispers).
The word is that the other nominees — Renee Bumb and (Mr.) Noel Hillman, are squeaky-clean.