Obama losing chance to reshape judiciary

[usregimechange]

President Obama's appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is one high-profile success. UC Berkeley professor Goodwin Liu has been nominated to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, but he is expected to meet significant GOP resistance. (Dilip Vishwanat, Getty Images; Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images; Laura Morton, For The Times)


An early chance for the Obama administration to reshape the nation's judiciary -- and counter gains made in the federal courts by conservatives -- appears close to slipping away, due to a combination of White House inattention and Republican opposition.

During President Obama's first year, judicial nominations trickled out of the White House at a far slower pace than in President George W. Bush's first year. Bush announced 11 nominees for federal appeals courts in the fourth month of his tenure. Obama didn't nominate his 11th appeals court judge until November, his 10th month in office.

Moreover, Obama nominees are being confirmed at a much slower rate than those of his predecessor, largely because of the gridlocked Senate.

Key slots stand without nominees, including two on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the body that reviews decisions by federal agencies and a court that is considered second in importance only to the Supreme Court. Federal judicial vacancies nationwide have mushroomed to well over 100, with two dozen more expected before the end of the year. To date, the Obama administration has nominees for just 52 of those slots, and only 17 have been confirmed.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-obama-judges15-2010mar15,0,118526.story

[tallahasseedem]

1. Surprise, surprise.

Another Obama bashing thread. Yeah, Congress gridlock definitely = complete and utter Obama failure.

Lookie there, a Kucinich thread...gotta run!

[usregimechange]

2. I have been fairly vigilant in posting items both positive and negative of his work on this issue

[usregimechange]

4. Case in point from a recent post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7912313

[Hawaii Hiker]

6. This topic (judicial appointments) is so important because

these appointments, be they SCOTUS, Court of Appeals, etc. are for LIFE...Long after President Obama is out of office, the people he appoints will still be on the court....It (judicial appointments) is one of the most lasting legacies a president has..

I just wish President Obama would use the nuclear option to pick up the pace of these nominations....He's nominating individuals, yet they often take 6 months+ to confirm...The GOP has no intentions of working with him on anything, so "F" them...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_judges_appointed_by_Barack_Obama

[tekisui]

8. Yes you have.

I pay attention to your posts, they are consistently fair. Thank you and ignore knee-jerks.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Free Don Siegelman!

Until Obama gets rid of the federal prosecutor who went after Siegelman he has zero credibility on this issue.

[ruggerson]

5. This is disgusting

This was my main reason for voting for Obama. But, where Reagan and Bush II nominated nothing but hardcore rightwingers, Obama has countered that with a very slow stream of moderates. Liu is one of the few I can get excited about.

What a terrible waste of a generational opportunity.

[DisgustedInMN]

7. I don't believe for one second...

... Obama ever intended to "reshape" the judiciary. As on almost every other issue and policy, he has proven to nothing more than Republican Lite.

[usregimechange]

9. I am still hoping that this will not be the case but he has got to turn this around

[DisgustedInMN]

10. That's where I was at..

.. for quite a while, thinking that this guy was playing some sort Zen Magic Multi-dimensional Chess Game at a level I just wasn't understanding. He was and is, problem is however, I failed to recognize that even early on, he was playing for the other side, not We the People.

[usregimechange]

11. Well, if you are right and he pulls that with the next SCOTUS pick, he can knock on his own doors...

next election year.

[DisgustedInMN]

12. Well..

... for a sizable percentage of us that carried his water last time, that decision is already made.

[usregimechange]

13. What could change your mind?

[DisgustedInMN]

14. Several 180 degree reversals ...

... for a start. I'll come back later and define some of them, if you wish. Gotta go for now.

[usregimechange]

15. The Senate deserves some of this criticism as well

[treestar]

16. Whinging about this just takes the cake

:silly: