Confirmation Watch


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Commentary

Why the Fight Over Sotomayor’s Confirmation Matters

Recently, Quin Hillyer, senior editorial writer at the Washington Times and senior editor of The American Spectator, joined CFIF’s Renee Giachino to discuss the Sotomayor nomination and why the fight over her confirmation matters…[Read more and listen to the interview here.]

156 Organizations and Activists, Including CFIF, Urge Opposition to Judge Sotomayor’s Confirmation to U.S. Supreme Court

In a letter sent to all 100 Members of the United States Senate, the Center for Individual Freedom (“CFIF”) this week joined with 156 state and national organizations and activists, representing millions of Americans, to express opposition to the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s nominee to be the next associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court...[more]

Like President, Like Nominee: Obama and Sotomayor Render Language Increasingly Meaningless

While mesmerizing audiences with soothing teleprompted speeches and a hypnotic cadence, the disconnect between his words and his actions is already well-established. And now, in her first week of Senate confirmation testimony, Judge Sonia Sotomayor has demonstrated that the fruit doesn’t fall far from the proverbial tree...[more]

Sotomayor’s Got Some ’Splainin’ To Do

On its own, the New Haven firefighters case would be a blockbuster. It raises the most difficult and divisive of constitutional and statutory issues: Whether a city can refuse to promote and throw out the results of a promotion exam simply because white and Hispanic firefighters scored higher than their black colleagues...[more]

The Trial of Sonia Sotomayor

The members of the Obama Administration are the most politically cunning group to inhabit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since the Reagan years. Unlike the feckless Jimmy Carter or the erratic Bill Clinton, the current president and his team know how to make liberalism go down smooth...[more]

Judging Sotomayor

In a column on the confirmation battle over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor this week, Washington Post columnist David Broder cites back to the 1987 battle over Robert Bork: “The Bork battle was historic; a sharp ideological fight that saw interest groups on both sides mobilize as if it were a Presidential campaign...[more]

The Constitution Does “Live and Breathe” – Through the Amendment Process

The Constitution isn’t perfect, of course, nor were the remarkable men who drafted it – no person or anything created by mankind can ever be. But as noted by former Attorney General Edwin Meese, III, it is “the greatest political wonder of the world – a government of laws, and not of men.”...[more]

Justice Isn’t Blind for the President or His Supreme Court Nominee

The Memorial Day weekend was barely over when President Barack Obama announced his choice of who would get his Supreme Court nomination. While most Americans were just beginning their holiday-shortened work week, we learned that the “empathetic” nominee the President had been looking for was Judge Sonia Sotomayor, on the bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit...[more]

RELEASE: CFIF Comments on Sotomayor Nomination to U.S. Supreme Court

After weeks of anticipation, President Barack Obama today nominated Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the United States Supreme Court. In response, Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Director of Legal and Public Affairs, issued the following statement calling for a careful review of Judge Sotomayor’s record and judicial temperament...[more]

Brand New Administration, Same Old Judges War?

After eight years of unfairly smearing and blatantly obstructing the confirmation of President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees -- purportedly to advance bipartisanship -- Democrats now find that the shoe is on the other foot. And that shoe no longer fits...[more]

The Supreme Retirement Game Begins

With crises at home (the economy) and abroad (pick your favorite, the War on Terror, the Middle East Conflict, etc.), no one has been paying much attention to the highest court in the land. Instead, for more than a year now, the focus for the media, the American people and even the world has been the two political branches of our federal government...[more]

Confirmation Wonderland: The Developing Saga of Timothy Geithner

Bill Richardson, you see, didn’t make it to Confirmation Wonderland, that special U.S. Senate place intended to certify a President’s choices for certain high level administration jobs are of sufficient ability and character to serve in those jobs...[more]

It's Not All About the Supremes

Americans will not only decide who gets at least a four-year lease on the White House, but will also indirectly be choosing who will get lifetime seats on the federal bench...[more]

How the Candidates Compare on Judges

In some cases, wartime leadership is obviously a President's most enduring legacy. But in most instances, a President's Supreme Court and other judicial appointments constitute his - or someday, her - most lasting effect...[more]

Leave Appointment of Judges to the Lawyers?

Only our nation's leading and largest organization of lawyers could have the audacity to suggest that they should be in charge of selecting just who should, and should not, sit on the federal bench. But that's just what the American Bar Association did a little more than three weeks ago...[more]

A Constitutional Obamination?

So, it's all but official. Barack Obama is the Democratic Party's nominee to be the next President of the United States...[more]

The Waiting Game and the Stalling Game

It is never a surprise when games are played on Capitol Hill. But as fun as it is for the politicians to play the stalling game on judicial confirmations -- especially since everyone knows the name on the mailbox at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will change in less than a year -- it is excruciating for the American people, the courts and the would-be judges who, as a result, are being forced to play the waiting game...[more]

CFIF Joins Coalition Expressing "Deep Concern" About Lack of Action on Judicial Nominees

Last week, the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) joined a coalition of 60 organizations — led by our friends at the Committee for Justice — in urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to act on President Bush's judicial nominees...[more]

U.S. Senators Filibuster Their Way to Freer Elections

For years now we've been lamenting the partisan obstruction of President George W. Bush's nominees...[more]

Finally Filling the Fifth

On Thursday, October 24, by a vote of 59-38, the Senate confirmed Judge Leslie H. Southwick to a lifetime seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit...[more]

Judge Leslie Southwick and the Lamentable Loop of Liberal Lies


The more the judicial nominees change, the more the liberal lies remain the same. Unfortunately, that is the lamentable lesson being learned by Mississippi Judge Leslie Southwick as the President's third nominee to fill a long-standing vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit...[more]

Obstructionist Senate Democrats Throw Iraq War Veteran Under the Bus

Anti-war liberals persistently - but implausibly - protest that they "support the troops" despite hysterically opposing the war effort itself.  Well, now Senate Democrats, most of whom fall within the anti-war description, have a chance to put their money where their mouth is.  Unfortunately, they are instead exposing the absurdity of their claim...[more] 

Like Father, Like Son: A Legal Legacy Lost?

Isn't it funny how history — even recent history — repeats itself in spite of the oft-cited aphorism that it's important to learn from history so we don't repeat it.  More realistically, famed lawyer Clarence Darrow once noted, "History repeats itself; that's one of the things wrong with history."  And, so it is with the Presidents Bush, father and son...[more]

A Big Campaign Promise Kept

But a book released a week ago Tuesday, on the same day President Bush delivered the State of the Union Address, reminds conservatives why his most important and lasting legacy may be the federal courts, and specifically, the U.S. Supreme Court...[more]

The Cost of Missing Tuesday's Deadline

While Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and the candidates whom he handpicked were experiencing the thrill of victory last week, the Republicans whom Schumer and Company routed weren't the only ones feeling the agony of defeat. Indeed, the Democrats' takeover of the Senate -- not to mention the House of Representatives -- on Tuesday was just the final defeat for several judicial nominees who had been thwarted by Schumer for years...[more]

Short-Term Punishment, Long-Term Consequences

If you're disappointed with the job Congress is doing, you're far from alone. According to the latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll, Congress' approval rating fell to a 14-year low in mid-October, with only 16 percent of registered voters approving, while a whopping 75 percent disapprove...[more]

Looming Supreme Court Vacancies: Reason Enough to Vote November 7

Five - that is how many U.S. Supreme Court Justices will reach age 70 or older between this November 7 and the next nationwide election in November 2008...[more]

With Friends Like These in the Judicial Confirmation Battle...

Time and time again, we have criticized Democrats for their unprincipled position of pushing politics where it doesn't belong -- onto the federal bench. But now, we find that a couple of Republicans are just as wrong in their "principled" refusal to play politics where it is both expected and appropriate -- in the U.S. Senate...[more]

More Liberal Lynching

If you think the Left doesn't discriminate based on race then you haven't been paying attention to judicial confirmation process for the past few years...[more]

Judicial Nominations and a Possible Supreme Court Retirement

Summer officially started last week, which typically means things inside the beltway slow down as the heat rises. Not so this year. Among hot items on Congress' plate are a constitutional amendment on flag burning, a line-item veto bill and summer hearings on illegal immigration...[more]

Liberal Lies About Kavanaugh's Credentials

Senate Democrats and their liberal puppet masters are proving once again that their attacks on President George W. Bush's judicial nominees amount to nothing more than political partisanship and electoral sour grapes -- not that anyone needed any more evidence of that fact...[more]

Memogate Lives:
Olati Johnson and Columbia Law School's Dancing Dean

On March 28, David M. Schizer, Dean of the Columbia Law School, wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Sun.  That was followed by a note to a blog therightcoast.blogspot.com — by Professor Avery Katz of Columbia Law School.  Both were responding to a March 24 column in the New York Sun by Curt A. Levey, General Counsel of the Committee for Justice, who questioned the involvement of Lee Bollinger, now President of Columbia University, in the Columbia Law School faculty appointment of Olati Johnson...[more]

Editor's Note: Senate Judiciary Committee Scandal Resurfaces

In the past week, the Senate Judiciary Committee scandal generally referred to as "Memogate" has resurfaced, with an intriguing new twist...[more]

The Honorable Judge Pickering talks about the
Politics of Judicial Confirmation and the Culture War

According to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's website, as of March 17, 2006, the nomination of 33 judges for federal circuit and district court positions remain pending in either committee or on the floor.  A total of 45 vacancies are reported, with 18 listed as judicial emergencies...[more]

Visit Our Supreme Court Confirmation Watch Section

This section is dedicated to the selection and confirmation of a new Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. It includes news, commentary, key background and [more]

Historical Imbalance

How quickly the Democrats forget their own history....[more]

Remembering Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist

With the passing of William H. Rehnquist, the 16th Chief Justice of the United States, America lost a universally respected jurist and a supremely dedicated public servant....[more]

The Rutledge Precedent Debunked

The Left has spent the last four years laying the groundwork for liberal Senators like Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin to undertake extensive and detailed questioning of judicial nominees concerning their positions on specific issues...[more]

Confirmation Process Shouldn't Be a Political Quest for Legal Outcomes

In the abstract, federal judges have a relatively simple sounding mission: administer our justice system by interpreting and applying the law...[more]

Judge John Roberts: Legal Top Gun

In general, Americans aspire to have the best of everything ― the best food, the best sports, the best military ― and the best Supreme Court...[more]

CFIF Praises Judge Roberts’s Nomination to the Supreme Court

President Bush today nominated Judge John Roberts to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. In response, Jeff Mazzella, President of the Center for Individual Freedom, made the following statement...[more]

President Bush Introduces Supreme Court Nominee Roberts

On July 19, 2005, President Bush nominated Judge John G. Roberts to be Associated Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Here is the full text of the President's remarks...[more]

Fairness Isn’t Part of the Obstructionist Playbook

As President Bush deliberates on whom to nominate to fill the first Supreme Court vacancy in more than a decade, it’s worth contemplating the other side of the confirmation equation: the U.S. Senate...[more]

The Supremacy of Five

Each summer America learns about the supremacy of five...[more]

The President Consults with Liberal Senators
(a Double Super Secret Transcript)

President Bush has been consulting with liberal Senators about his Supreme Court nominee, and CFIF has the transcript...[more]

Why the Supreme Court Should Matter to You…
And It’s Not for the Reasons that You Think

Last week’s announcement that Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is retiring created the first Supreme Court vacancy in more than 11 years and set off a high-stakes, high-profile battle over who will replace her...[more]

CFIF Urges New Supreme Court Justice to Protect Constitution

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced today that she would retire after more than 20 years on the Supreme Court. In response, Jeff Mazzella, President of the Center for Individual Freedom, made the following statement...[more]

Saad Deserves a Vote

Henry Saad got thrown under the bus. Plain and simple...[more]

Filibuster Fight Left Rumblings Along the Sidelines

By Senator John Cornyn: More than four years ago, President Bush nominated Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen to the federal court of appeals...[more]

Anger Management

It is now little more than a day after the infamous gang of 14 in the U.S. Senate decided that they would control the fate of President Bush’s judicial nominees...[more]

Senate Sellout

Last night, fourteen so-called “moderates” temporarily hijacked the U.S. Senate, defying the President of the United States and leaders of both political parties...[more]

Frist: Agreement Falls Short of Principle

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) made the following statement on the Senate floor on Monday evening, May 23, after the announcement of an agreement betwen 14 Senators to scale back the use of filibusters to block judicial confirmations...[more]

Senators Strike Deal on Judicial Filibusters

On Monday, May 23, fourteen Senators -- seven Republicans and seven Democrats -- reached an agreement that they say will limit the use of the filibuster to obstruction judicial confirmation. Here is the full text of that agreement...[more]

The Magnificent Seven Confront the Dirty Dozen

As the debate over judicial confirmations rages on the Senate floor, a Dirty Dozen Senators have been trying to cut a backroom deal that would allow them to avoid voting on the Constitutional Option...[more]

Senator Bond Makes the Case for Fairness

The Senate debate over judicial confirmations that has been raging over the last few days has prompted many speeches...[more]

Senate Democrats Distort ‘Checks and Balances’

The Senate’s ‘Advice and Consent’ role in the confirmation process is to approve or reject Presidential appointments by simple majority vote, as the Constitution and Supreme Court precedent make clear...[more]

Don't Buy the Democrats' "Rules Change" Spin

The assertion that Republicans are planning to “change Senate rules” is creative political spin by Senate Democrats and their surrogates...[more]

Liberal BS v. Senate Horse Puckey

If Priscilla Owen is confirmed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Republic as we know and love it will not much longer survive...[more]

Judicial Confirmation Hypocrisy

As the Senate moves closer to a vote on the Constitutional Option – a vote to end the filibusters against President Bush’s judicial nominees – Senate Democrats have ramped up their rhetoric in an effort to defeat the measure...[more]

Majority Leader Frist Opens Judicial Debate

Opening the debate on Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen’s nomination to a federal appeals court, Majority Leader Bill Frist made the following statement...[more]

The Constitutional Option Explained

Today, the Senate begins an historic debate aimed at ending the Democrats’ unprecedented obstruction of the President’s judicial nominees...[more]

A Brief History of the Use of the Constitutional Option

The Constitutional Option is nothing new. Senators have used it or tried to use it a number of times over the years...[more]

CFIF Launches Ad Campaign on Judicial Nominees

As the Senate this week begins its long anticipated debate on ending the filibusters against President Bush’s judicial nominees, the Center for Individual Freedom today announced an ad campaign urging an end to the Democrats’ obstruction...[more]

CFIF Files Ethics Complaint Against Minority Leader Reid

Complaint says Minority Leader broke Senate Rules by referening confidential FBI report in public...[more]

CFIF Preparing Judicial Nomination Ad Campaign

How much is it worth to you to get the TRUTH out to the American people...[more]

Senator Frist Takes Final Shot at Judicial Compromise
Table Now Set for Vote on Constitutional Option

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist offered a final compromise plan to end the partisan obstruction of the judicial confirmation process in the Senate once and for all...[more]

Lies, Damn Lies and the Fight Over Judicial Confirmations

In today’s political climate, partisan street brawls are the norm, not the exception, in our nation’s capital.  Whether the issue is Social Security reform, the war in Iraq, a national energy plan...[more]

CFIF Joins With Coalition to Correct Misinformation About the Constitutional Option

In a letter to Senate leaders, CFIF joined 50 other national organizations to make clear that while we strongly support measures to overcome the partisan obstruction of the President's judicial nominees, we oppose any action to limit the use of the filibuster on legislation...[more]

CFIF Urges Senate to Overcome Obstruction of Judicial Confirmations

The Center for Individual Freedom today joined more than 150 national and state organizations, representing millions of voters across the country...[more]

CFIF Applauds Selection of John Bolton for U.N. Ambassador

"This is an outstanding selection. John Bolton has repeatedly demonstrated that Americans can count on him to be an unwavering advocate for U.S. interests and stand firmly for our principles."...[more]

A Personal Message From CFIF President Jeff Mazzella

I want to thank each and every one of you who has participated in CFIF’s blast fax campaign to end the obstructionist filibusters blocking President Bush’s judicial nominees...[more]

Coleman Renews Call for U.N. Reform in CPAC Speech

By Senator Norm Coleman: The United Nations, for better or for worse, plays a role in world politics.  It gives us an opportunity to have dialogue with both our allies and our adversaries...[more]

Senator Reid's Revisionist History on Judges

It's official.  This week, President Bush formally re-nominated 20 judicial nominees whose confirmations were never voted on by the full Senate during his first term, including seven appellate nominees whose confirmations were filibustered by Senate Democrats...[more]

Splitting the Ninth Circuit Is Inevitable

By Congressman Mike Simpson: Every few decades, Congress must exercise its Constitutional authority and realign the United States Courts of Appeals into more efficient and manageable circuits that best represent the people within the circuit and provide them with an expeditious judicial process...[more]

In Defense of Judge Gonzales

The nomination of Judge Alberto Gonzales to serve as our nation's 80th Attorney General — and our first of Hispanic descent — is the American dream come true. Yet his nomination faces noisy, if ultimately futile and unjustified, opposition...[more]

Confirmation Déjà Vu?

The re-election of President George W. Bush by a solid majority of American voters apparently made no difference at all … at least when it comes to how the Left is handling confirmations...[more]

It’s Time to 'Go Nuclear'

Make no mistake, the issue of judicial confirmations played a pivotal role in President George W. Bush winning a second term and a stronger majority in the United States Senate...[more]




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