Free Republic

With the confirmation of White House attorney Steven Menashi to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, another federal appeals court has a 'majority' of Republican-appointed judges. Menashi, whose nomination was vehemently opposed by Democrats and civil rights groups, was confirmed by the Senate, 51-41. Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins joined Democrats in opposing the 40-year-old's nomination. The 2nd Circuit now has seven judges tapped by Republican presidents and six named by Democrats. The 2nd Circuit is the second federal appeals court Trump has remade to have a majority of judges appointed by GOP presidents. In March, the president flipped...

The Senate on Thursday confirmed Steven Menashi to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, bringing an end to a confirmation battle that at times drew ire from members of both parties toward the judicial nominee. The Senate confirmed Menashi 51 to 41, largely along party lines. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, broke with her party to vote against the nominee. Menashi’s confirmation flips the Second Circuit to a majority of Republican appointees.

Menashi criticized over pro-Israel, anti-political correctness articles President Donald Trump's judicial nominee for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has been subject to a media smear campaign which has distorted his past writings and labeled him a white nationalist, provoking backlash from experts. Earlier this month, MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow attacked Steven Menashi, Trump's nominee for the open seat on the circuit court, for a 2010 law review article he wrote. Maddow characterized the article, titled "Ethnonationalism and Liberal Democracy," as a "high-brow argument for racial purity" arguing that democratic nations couldn't function unless they were unified by race. "Are...

President Trump’s nominee for a seat on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has been vilified in recent days as a racist and misogynist by liberal pundits and organizations -- but conservative allies claim the attacks amount to a smear campaign and a gross distortion of his past writings. The attacks against judicial nominee Steven Menashi picked up last week with a segment by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, in which the host discussed a 2010 article Menashi wrote for the University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, titled “Ethnonationalism and Liberal Democracy.” Maddow started off her discussion by comparing the term...

Left-wing opponents of an impartial and independent judiciary have picked another target: appeals court nominee Steven Menashi. It’s one thing to be honest about a nominee’s record, but disagree about whether he belongs on the bench. The attacks begun on Menashi, however, amount to nothing more than dishonest smears. Menashi, whose Jewish family came to the United States from Iran, received his law degree from Stanford before clerking first for U.S. Circuit Judge Douglas Ginsburg and then for Justice Samuel Alito. He became a partner at one of America’s premier law firms and has taught at two prestigious law schools....