Litigation

After Long Stall, Senate Handily Confirms Judge

By Peter Hardin

The Senate has confirmed lawyer Jane Stranch of Nashville for a seat on the Sixth U.S. Circuit of Appeals. Her nomination won a 71-21 vote, although the vote had been delayed for months.

Although both of her Republican home-state senators supported her, The Tennessean reported that politics was paramount in stalling the confirmation of Stranch. She was nominated more than a year ago, and her nomination was the longest pending of those submitted by President Obama for the appeals courts:

“While Stranch?s nomination attracted little controversy itself, she was caught up in the broader fight between Republicans and Democrats over the confirmation of judicial nominees ? a political battle that goes back through the last few presidencies.”

Meanwhile, there was continuing commentary about the backlog of judicial nominations in the Senate, and a myriad of vacant seats on the federal bench. In the Charleston Gazette, Andrew Clevenger asked, “Does America care about the judicial vacancy crisis?” Dahlia Lithwick wrote “Empty Chambers: Why the judicial vacancy crisis matters,” in Slate, and Joe Pace wrote in Salon an article entitled, “The GOP’s secret, successful judicial war.”

To learn more about the backlog and to see editorials commenting on it, check out these recent Gavel Grab posts. To find out more about the influence of partisan politics on judicial nominations, see Justice at Stake?s issues page on the topic.

Full post as published by The Gavel on September 15, 2010 (boomark / email).