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Courting Justice in America:
the Back-Stabbing Continues
The battering of Bork; the trashing of Thomas; the pulverizing of Pickering. The Unholy
Alliance (liberals in and out of Congress working hand-in-glove with one another) continues its
unrelenting war against the appointment of constitutionalist judges committed to "Courting
Justice." Current judicial nomination statistics indict virtually everyone involved in the back-stabbing of justice in America. As of March 29, 2002, here is the judicial nominations
scorecard:
- President Bush has nominated 97 judges to courts of general jurisdiction; at
this point in his presidency, Bill Clinton had nominated only 77;
- In the first year of Clinton's presidency, successful nominees took an average
of 52 days from nomination to confirmation; the analogous rate for Bush
nominees last year was an average of 112 days;
- In the last 15 years there have been only two instances where the Judiciary
Committee rejected a nominee — both under GOP presidents and a Democrat-controlled Committee;
- There are currently 95 vacancies — an 11% vacancy rate and a rate 50% higher
than what the Clinton administration considered "full employment" for the
federal courts;
- Particularly critical are the vacancies on the Courts of Appeals, which have
become increasingly important as the Supreme Court has decided fewer and
fewer cases;
- Filings in the 12 regional Courts of Appeals (excluding the Appeals Court for
the District of Columbia, which has more specialized jurisdiction involving
federal government agencies) hit a record high last year — increasing 22% in
just 10 years;
- Two of the 13 Courts of Appeals are dangerously under-manned: the DC
Court of Appeals (4 empty seats out of 12, with 2 Bush nominees languishing
before the Judiciary Committee), and the 6th Circuit Court (with 8 of 16 seats empty and 7 Bush nominees awaiting Senate action);
- The judicial threat to justice in America pictured in these statistics worsens,
despite the pontificating of liberal Democrat leaders about the necessity of
moving expeditiously on judicial nominees — and the pontificating of the
White House and GOP Senate leadership about consistently and aggressively
pushing for the appointment of constitutionalist judges. In the abysmal
spectacle of a severely under-manned judiciary in general and Charles
Pickering's defeat in particular, there is ample blame to be shared among both
political parties, the radical liberal pressure groups who have engineered the
current crisis, and we, the American people who have remained dangerously
oblivious to our crumbling justice system (in mid-March, a Fox News survey
reported that 1/3 of the Americans surveyed expressed no opinion about the
Pickering debacle).
| But We Can Still Make a Difference! |
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Let your views regarding this inexcusable slap in the face of justice be known to the White
House and ALL Senators. Forcefully urge them to do their constitutional duty in filling the
federal courts with judges passionately committed to "Courting Justice."
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Eagle Forum
