Center Urges End to Partisan Blockade

In the release reproduced here, the Center for Individual Freedom urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to expedite the judicial confirmation process.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jeffrey Mazzella

703-535-5836

February 7, 2002

CENTER URGES END TO PARTISAN BLOCKADE OF PRESIDENT BUSH’S JUDICIAL NOMINEES

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Center for Individual Freedom (CIF) today urged Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to expedite the judicial confirmation process and reject political and ideological litmus tests as standards for confirming judicial nominees.

Ninety-six vacancies currently exist at the federal district and circuit court levels, 37 of which are considered judicial emergencies by the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts. Yet, 58 of President George W. Bush’s nominees are still awaiting confirmation. Many of those have been denied a hearing or a vote on the Senate floor, having been labeled by special interests as "controversial," based largely on their policy views, not their qualifications to administer the rule of law.

"Scrutinizing nominees based on their personal views is completely inappropriate in the confirmation process, and is a blatant misuse of the Senate’s ‘Advise and Consent’ function under the U.S. Constitution," said Jeff Mazzella, CIF’s Vice President of Legislative Affairs. "To continue to use such ideological considerations will only further stall the process and erode the efficacy of the Federal Judiciary."

The Center’s plea comes on a day when the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a rare second hearing on the confirmation of U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pickering to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The committee failed to cast a vote after Pickering’s first hearing on October 18, 2001, as he has been labeled "controversial" by a loosely formed coalition of special interests working to derail the process.

"With the growing number of vacancies on the federal bench and as the number of cases on the federal court docket increases, it is imperative that every nominee, including Judge Pickering, is acted on fairly and with deliberate speed," said Mazzella. "Those in the Senate engaging in the partisan blockade of the many qualified nominees are ignoring their responsibility to the confirmation process. A fully staffed judiciary has never been more necessary," Mazzella concluded.

CIF has dedicated a portion of its website to the confirmation process entitled "Confirmation Watch," where it provides an up-to-date list of judicial nominees awaiting confirmation by the Senate and frequently highlights the credentials of the nominees. Confirmation Watch can be accessed by visiting www.cfif.org.

Founded in 1998, the Center for Individual Freedom is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with the mission to protect and defend individual freedoms and rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The Center does not and will not endorse any of the judicial nominees. Our purpose on this issue is to encourage the timely fulfillment of the Senate’s constitutional duty to the confirmation process.

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