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Topic: Federal Judicial Selection
Article Title: Avoiding the Senate
Publication: Washington Post
December 31, 2000

Editorial applauds President Clinton's recess appointment of Roger Gregory to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (See Court Pester, December 28) as "a protest against the unfair confirmation system" for federal judicial nominees. It maintains that, while "both parties have done their share of damage to the process," "the terms of . . . a truce ought to be simple: We should begrudge no senator a vote against any judicial nominee, but nominees must be afforded hearings and votes within reasonable periods of time. No holds by often anonymous individual senators." It concludes: "the new president has pledged to change the tone in Washington. No aspect of the governmental process needs the help more than this broken system of naming and confirming judges."