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Should President Obama be praised or assailed for his approach to judicial nominations so far?

By Douglas A. Berman

Jeffrey Toobin has this really interesting article on President Obama's approach to judicial appointments in the New Yorker. Here are just a few notable snippets that ought to engage everyone: Just eight months into his first term, Obama already has the chance to nominate judges for twenty-one seats on the federal appellate bench ? more than ten per cent of the hundred and seventy-nine judges on those courts. At least half a dozen more seats should open in the next few months. There are five vacancies on the Fourth Circuit alone; just by filling those seats, Obama can convert the Fourth Circuit, which has long been known as one of the most conservative courts in the country, into one with a majority of Democratic appointees. On the federal district courts, there are seventy-two vacancies, also about ten per cent of the total; home-state senators of the President?s party generally take the lead in selecting nominees for these seats, but Obama will have influence in these choices as well...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on September 17, 2009 (boomark / email).