Fair Courts E-lert: Menendez Drops His Opposition to Obama’s Pick for a Federal Appeals Court
1. Speaking to state legislators last week, Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Cady underscored the need for additional funding of the judiciary. According to Chief Justice Cady, “[T]he months and months of cuts have turned to years and years of cuts, and those years have now stretched into a decade.” In his state of the judiciary speech, Chief Justice Cady referenced a recent World Bank study, which concluded that “the most important ingredient to the economic success and strength of a country, by far, was the presence of a court system that applied the rule of law fairly and impartially.” A Des Moines Register editorial strongly supported Chief Justice Cady’s request for additional court funding, noting that, “[i]f anything, Cady’s pitch for more resources was too mild, almost apologetic. He has nothing to apologize for in asking for sufficient money for a world-class judicial system in Iowa.”
Healthy Courts are a Must for Iowa, Des Moines Register, January 11, 2012; Jeff Eckhoff, Iowa Chief Justice to Legislators: We Need Your Help. (And $10 Million in New Money.), Des Moines Register, January 11, 2012.
Federal Judicial Selection
2. This week Russell Wheeler of the Brookings Institute released a progress report on President Obama’s judicial nominations. The report noted that while the administration’s slow start with nominations, and the subsequent Senate obstructionism, has played a role in the judicial vacancy crisis, the increasing number of judges who are taking senior status or retiring has further compounded the problem. Therefore, while the pace of confirmations has picked up slightly, vacancies have nevertheless increased.
Andrew Ramonas, At Three-Year Mark, Obama Lags Behind Bush in Judicial Nominations, Study Finds, Blog of Legal Times, January 13, 2012; Russell Wheeler, Judicial Nominations and Confirmations after Three Years—Where Do Things Stand?, The Brookings Institution, January 16, 2012.
3. The New York Times editorial board last week admonished Senator Robert Menendez for holding up President Obama’s nomination of Patty Shwartz to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. This was the first instance in which a Democratic senator had actively blocked one of Obama’s judicial nominee. According to the Times, Senator Mendez’s opposition to Shwartz—who was rated “unanimously well qualified” by the American Bar Association—“has the unsavory flavor of political revenge” because Shwartz’s long-time companion is employed in the prosecutor’s office that investigated Menendez in 2006. After Menendez held an “in-depth discussion” with Shwartz on Friday, however, the Senator agreed to reverse course, and said he would no longer block Shwartz’s nomination.
Mr. Menendez’s Missing ‘Blue Slip’, New York Times, January 9, 2012; Kate Zernicke,Menendez Drops His Opposition to Obama’s Pick for a Federal Appeals Court, New York Times, January 13, 2012.
Diversity on the Bench
4. The Supreme Court of Washington and the Western District of Virginia both celebrated notable firsts last week. After being sworn on to Washington’s high court, Steven Gonzalez became the first Mexican American justice to ever serve on the court, and the only person of color currently on the court. Meanwhile, the Roanoke Times reported that Rebecca Connelly was named by the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to serve as a bankruptcy judge in the Western District of Virginia, making her the first woman to hold such a seat there.
Brad Shannon, Meet Steven Gonzalez, Newest Supreme Court Justice, Olympian, January 9, 2012; Laurence Hammack, Female Bankruptcy Judge is District's First, Roanoke Times, January 10, 2012.
Attacks on the Judiciary
5. “Every now and then, the organized bar has the duty to stand up and be counted.” So contends attorney Joel Cohen, in a Law.com opinion piece urging the American Bar Association to respond to the recent attacks on the judiciary that have come from Republican presidential candidates, including Newt Gingrich. According to Cohen, “[w]hat the former Speaker of the House doesn't acknowledge is that congressional intrusion into a judge's decision-making undermines the independence that is essential for the country's judiciary to function properly.”
Joel Cohen, Will the Bar Stand up to Gingrich’s Tirade Against Judges?, Law.com, January 9, 2012.
6. Last year the Florida legislature failed to pass a proposal to give the governor sole authority over naming the members of the state’s judicial nominating panel. Currently, the governor appoints five members of each judicial nominating commission on his own, and the other four are chosen based on recommendations by the Florida Bar. Now, a bill advancing in the Florida House seeks to revise the state’s judicial merit selection system, including by allowing the governor to replace some members of the nominating commissions. A Pensacola News Journal article highlights contrasting views on the proposal. According to the Journal, Democratic Representative Marty Kiar fears the change would get rid of the independence of the commissions. In contrast, the bill’s sponsor Matt Gaetz, believes it would permit the governor to hold panel members accountable.
David W. Singer, Florida Bar Must Prevent Gov. Scott's Judicial Power Grab, Sun Sentinel, January 11, 2012; Don't Give Guvs Sole Power to Pick Judges, Orlando Sun, January 3, 2012; Unemployment Relief Sought, Pensacola News Journal, January 11, 2012.
State Judicial Elections
7. Three GOP candidates vying for the seat of Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court have begun fundraising in earnest. Chief Justice Charles Malone, who was appointed in August and is seeking a full six-year term, will face Charlie Graddick, a Mobile Circuit Court judge, and Roy Moore, who was previously on the Court but removed in 2003 after controversy over a ten commandments monument in the Republican primary. And while a Huntsman Times editorial notes that “Fundraising for the chief justice race in Alabama seems to be somewhat off the torrid pace of other elections,” it nonetheless cautions against the role of special interest spending in judicial elections. As the editorial reminds readers, a decade-in-review report on judicial election spending, The New Politics of Judicial Elections, 2000-2009: Decade of Change, called Alabama “easily the most costly state” for supreme court elections during that decade. Meanwhile, in a separate contest for the seat of retiring Justice Tom Woodall on the Alabama Supreme Court, one candidate, Republican Circuit Judge Debra Jones, has built her campaign on the oversized influence of big business. According to the Associated Press, Judge Jones recently announced she will not accept campaign money from political action committees.
Mike Hollis, Editorial: Bankrolling the Court, The Huntsville Times, January 13, 2012; Phillip Rawls, Race to Replace Alabama Supreme Court Justice Woodall now Contested by 2 Republicans, Associated Press, January 10, 2012; Eric Velasco, Alabama Chief Justice Hopefuls' Lists Of Contributors Ore Contrasting, The Birmingham News, January 8, 2012.
