Center Urges End to Partisan Blockade

In the release reproduced here, the Center again urged Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to end the partisan blockade of President Bush’s judicial nominees.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jeffrey Mazzella

703-535-5836

May 9, 2002

CENTER TO SENATE MAJORITY: CONFIRM THE JUDGES

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Center for Individual Freedom today again urged Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to end the partisan blockade of President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees.

The Federal Judiciary is in the midst of a vacancy crisis. Hardest hit are the vital Circuit Courts of Appeal, which are working with a debilitating 20 percent vacancy rate. Yet, under the leadership of Daschle and Leahy, the Senate has confirmed only nine of the president’s 30 nominees to the appellate courts. The remaining 21 are being subjected to ideological litmus tests crafted by special interests instead of being scrutinized based on their ability to administer the rule of law. Many are being refused a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Others, who have received hearings, are being denied a vote on the Senate floor.

"It is disheartening that Daschle and Leahy continue to use partisan politics to obstruct the confirmation process, as vacancies in the federal judiciary mount," said Jeff Mazzella, the Center’s Vice President of Legislative Affairs. "It’s obvious they have little interest in alleviating the current vacancy crisis that plagues our federal court system. Their obstructionist tactics come at the expense of the administration of justice."

The Center’s plea comes on the one-year anniversary of the day the president sent his first 11 judicial nominees to the Senate for confirmation. One year later, only three of those 11 have been confirmed. The remaining eight are awaiting hearings, which have yet to be scheduled by Chairman Leahy.

"After a full year, these eight individuals nominated to the Circuit Courts of Appeal deserve a fair hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee and an up or down vote on the Senate floor, as do all of the president’s judicial nominees" said Mazzella. "Denying them the opportunity to be confirmed is a blatant abuse of power that has gone on way too long."

The Center 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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