Litigation

More Senators Using Judicial Screening Panels

By Peter Hardin

A new report finds that the number of U.S. senators using screening committees to evaluate potential candidates for the federal judiciary has increased to at least 21 this year from nine in 2008.

The report, entitled “Options for Federal Judicial Screening Committees,” emphasizes that it describes current practices but does note represent a “best practices” manual, “in part because relatively little is known about how such committees work.”

Its primary authors are Rebecca Kourlis, executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver, and Russell Wheeler, president of the Governance Institute, according to an article in the Blog of Legal Times.

While reasons for the surge in the screening committees are uncertain, according to the report, a possible factor is a resolution by the American Bar Association in 2008 urging senators to form bipartisan commissions in each state to review and suggest slates of the most professionally qualified candidates.

The report explains that senators’ reasons for using the committees “include a hope that an individual who enjoys the endorsement of a committee may move to nomination and confirmation more quickly.  That aspiration appears to have held true to some extent, although differences in confirmation times are affected by factors other than the committee process.”

“Other advantages of a committee process,” the report adds, “may include the ability to screen applicants and catch problems before any ABA or White House involvement; providing a voice to varied constituencies, including non-lawyers and members of both political parties; and inviting applications from individuals who might not otherwise come to the senators? attention.”

The IAALS and the American Bar Association are partners of the Justice at Stake Campaign. You can learn more from a JAS issues page about the screening commissions.

Full post as published by The Gavel on July 07, 2010 (boomark / email).