The National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys called on Senate leaders to schedule votes on non-controversial judicial nominees, saying the vacancies were making it hard for prosecutors to be effective.
John E. Nordin, the NAAUSA vice president for membership and operations, wrote in a letter last week to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that federal judicial vacancies “are reaching historic highs.” The full Senate has yet to consider 26 nominees the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed for judgeships on U.S. District Courts and U.S. Circuit Circuit Courts of Appeal.
“Our members – career federal prosecutors who daily appear in federal courts across the nation – are concerned by the increasing numbers of vacancies on the federal bench,” Nordin wrote in the Dec. 17 letter. “These vacancies increasingly are contributing to greater caseloads and workload burdens upon the remaining federal judges. Our federal courts cannot function effectively when judicial vacancies restrain the ability to render swift and sure justice.”
The NAAUSA said Senators should vote on nominees who received the backing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel said Tuesday.
During the first two years of the Bush administration, when Democrats in the opposite party controlled Senate, the chamber confirmed 100 judicial appointments. By contrast, the 111th Congress has confirmed 53 circuit and district nominations to date.
Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee had 38 pending judicial nominees awaiting a Senate floor vote, but nine of those nominees were confirmed on Friday and over the weekend.
As of today there are 26 pending judicial nominations, with the Senate scheduled to vote on two more nominations this afternoon. Many of these nominations were reported as early as last January and from the 26 vacant slots, 15 are considered judicial emergencies by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
The executive director of the NAAUSA, Dennis Boyd, said such a letter is unusual for the association to send to Senate leaders.
“These vacancies increasingly are contributing to greater caseloads and workload burdens upon the remaining federal judges. Our federal courts cannot function effectively when judicial vacancies restrain the ability to render swift and sure justice,” said Nordin.
members – career federal prosecutors who daily appear in federal courts across the
nation – are concerned by the increasing numbers of vacancies on the federal
bench. These vacancies increasingly are contributing to greater caseloads and
workload burdens upon the remaining federal judges. Our federal courts cannot
function effectively when judicial vacancies restrain the ability to render swift and
sure justice.
[...] Tuesday, the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys urged the Senate to confirm more [...]