Senators Fight Over Another Set of Judicial Nominees

Fox News ^ | Wednesday, July 09, 2003 | Fox News' Major Garrett and Julie Asher contributed to this report.

[hoosiermama]

WASHINGTON

[Pan_Yans Wife]

:) Excellent post!

[Dan from Michigan]

I didn't vote for these jerks. Thank you Detroit....

[Support Free Republic]

We Replaced Patrick Leahy's Brains With Folger's Crystals. Let's See If Anyone Notices!
	Donate Here By Secure Server Or mail checks to FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794 or you can use PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD- It is in the breaking news sidebar!

[thinktwice]

The United States is being enslaved by Democrats.

[hoosiermama]

Thanks. Do believe the future of our country depends alot on the Judicial branch. We already know we can have a lousy president and survive.... and look at some of the representative in congress.....But liberal judges that don't follow the constitution can destroy our nation.

Must keep on top of it and contact our Senators.

[ex-Texan]

*BUMP* !

[hoosiermama]

Then we must fight to take it back!

[hoosiermama]

Thought you might want to see this and pass it along to the Estrada group!

[CyberAnt]

This is excellent news! Time for hardball with these stinking dems. We all know the blue slips are being used to keep Bush's nominees from getting a vote - and their objections are not truth - they are just using the blue slip to obstruct.

Well ... there's one way you could stop it - get rid of the blue slips - instead, have just one form - senator has to fill it out and PRODUCE PROOF FOR HIS ACCUSATIONS. Then senator has to present proof to the President. I wonder how many of these blue slips would work for the dems if they had to present evidence directly to the president?

[Republican Wildcat]

Democrats counter that when Bush came into office, the 6th Circuit Court had eight vacancies. It now has only four, and that's not a bad record of confirmation.

Gee, there's only been at least 4 judges missing from the Court for 3 years. No problem here. < / sarcasm >

[deport]

Bush has had 132 of his 342 U.S. District and Appeals court nominees confirmed by the Senate since taking office in 2001.

---

I have no idea where these Journalist get their data and why they can't get accurate numbers..... President Bush hasn't submitted 342 U.S. District and Appeals court nomiees to the Senate.....

There were 131 submitted in the 107th congress, 100 approved and 31 left unacted upon..... They had to be resubmited in the 108th Congress as those nominations died when the Congress adjourned sine die.

There have been 90 nominees submitted to the 108th.... 33 have been confirmed, 4 are available for Frist to call to the floor for consideration, 13 have had committee hearings and 39 have not.

Five are scheduled for hearings tomorrow before the Committee and seven are up for committee votes tomorrow in their business session.... Pryor is included in these up for a committee vote.

[Republican Wildcat]

How appropriate that one appeared on this thread.

[tomball]

Liberal judges started tearing down our nation a long time ago. Right now criminals have more rights than their victims, and our judicial system keeps creating laws that turn employed taxpayers into welfare criminals. And of course, the laws are all subject to each individual's legal interpretation.

[hoosiermama]

Does any one have to old Estrada obstruction list? Looks like we may need to crank it up again.....!

[hoosiermama]

We'll ask here. Someone may know the answer.

I'd like to know what the rules are regarding those blue slips - how they went into effect, etc.? I don't think it's spelled out in the Constitution. Must have been done by precedent - not law. If the dems don't stop it - we might be able to pull the blue slips all together!

This was such a great move today - HARDBALL!!

[foreverfree]

Leahy looks sinister.

foreverfree

[hoosiermama]

HERE IS SOME BACK GROUND MATERIAL FOR YOU!
The Senate, The Courts and the Blue Slip


The Ground Rules During the 1990s

During the Clinton administration, the White House made significant efforts to consult with senators of both parties prior to nominating judges. With respect to nominees for federal district courts, senators or other elected officials submitted specific recommendations to the White House. In some states represented by both a Democratic and Republican senator, the two senators agreed to divide responsibility for suggesting nominees. In other instances, the Clinton administration received feedback and suggestions directly from Republican and Democratic senators. For example, Senators Orrin Hatch and Trent Lott each suggested candidates for district court seats in their home states; Hatch pushed strongly for the nomination of Ted Stewart in Utah, and Lott recommended Allen Pepper in Mississippi. Despite concerns expressed by civil rights and environmental groups, both Stewart and Pepper were nominated by President Clinton and quickly confirmed.

Genuine consultation also took place on appeals court nominations. Proposed Clinton administration selections were routinely discussed with senators of both parties, and nominations were sometimes delayed for several months as a result. Press reports indicated that President Clinton consulted with Senator Orrin Hatch, both before and after he assumed control of the Senate Judiciary Committee, prior to the Supreme Court nominations of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. In at least one instance, President Clinton nominated an appellate court judge recommended by a Republican Senator, despite objections from progressive groups. This occurred in 1999 when President Clinton accepted the recommendation of Senator Slade Gorton and nominated Barbara Durham for a seat on the Ninth Circuit, although health reasons later led to the nomination's withdrawal.

Senate Republicans also had significant influence after Clinton judicial nominees were selected. However, like other Congressional procedures, the blue slip policy can be-and has been-misused. After he assumed control of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the mid-1990s, Senator Hatch began to rigorously enforce a blue slip policy under which nominations could not move forward without the consent of both home state Senators. In 1998, this policy was made explicit on the blue slips themselves, which stated that “[n]o further proceedings on this nominee will be scheduled until both blue slips have been returned by the nominee’s home state senators.” Suddenly, a policy that had helped to force consultation and consensus was transformed into a vehicle for partisan obstruction.

Specific information on whether and when Senators returned blue slips is not made public. Nevertheless, it is clear that the strict blue slip policy effectively stopped any and all action on a number of Clinton nominees. For example, President Clinton nominated Helene White from Michigan for a seat on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on January 7, 1997. Then-Senator Spencer Abraham of Michigan reportedly failed to return his blue slip for more than three years. During that time, the Judiciary Committee took no action whatsoever on the nomination. By the time Abraham was finally pressured to return the blue slip late in 2000, Hatch had indicated that no further action would be taken on appeals court nominees that year. President Clinton renominated White in 2001, but President Bush withdrew the nomination in March without any action by the Senate. As a result, the Hatch-led Judiciary Committee took no action on the White nomination, not even scheduling a hearing, for more than four years.

Senator Jesse Helms used his blue slip to block any action on all African-American nominees to the Fourth Circuit for more than four years. No African-American has ever been confirmed for a seat on the Fourth Circuit court of appeals, which covers North and South Carolina and several other southern states. Starting in 1995, President Clinton submitted several African-American nominees to that court from North Carolina, including James Beaty and James Wynn. Reportedly as a result of Helms' failure to return either of his blue slips, however, neither of these nominees even received a hearing from the Judiciary Committee. Not until President Clinton's 2000 recess appointment of Roger Gregory, whose nomination also failed to receive a hearing, has an African-American ever served on the Fourth Circuit.

Other Clinton appeals court nominees, mostly women or minorities, were reportedly blocked by home state Republican senators withholding their blue slips. Examples included: Jorge Rangel and Enrique Moreno of Texas, and Kathleen McCree Lewis of Michigan. Other appeals court nominees, such as Barry Goode of California, Elena Kagan of D.C., and Allen Snyder of Maryland, were blocked even when there was no home state Republican senator to object. Overall, although not a single Clinton-nominated appeals judge was voted down by the Senate, blue slip and related delays and blockades meant that the Senate approved only 61% of President Clinton's appellate court nominees, compared with 87% of those nominated by President Reagan. In 1999-2000, 19 out of 32 Clinton appeals court nominees — roughly 60% — were blocked from receiving a vote.

[hoosiermama]

FOrgot to mention is from: THE People for the American Way

But is probably the Rationale for the current "blue slip fight"

[pawdoggie]

Interesting article, but you forgot to mention that during most of 90s, the Senate was controlled by Republicans, so it behooved Clinton to give the appearance of "consultation". Look back to previous Administrations during which the Democrats controlled the Senate. How did we end up with so many left-wing judges (at all levels of the Federal Judiciary)? You also forgot to underscore the most salient point in the article (assuming it's accurate): Overall, although not a single Clinton-nominated appeals judge was voted down by the Senate. Let the full Senate vote on the nominees, without filibuster (like they used to in the 90's).