Litigation

Vacant Judgeships ?Hazardous to our Health?

By Peter Hardin

It’s tough to get Americans focused on the nation’s judicial vacancy rate of almost one out of eight judgeships when people have to worry about the economy and global terrorism.

But the vacant judgeships remain an important issue nonetheless, say Dahlia Lithwick and Carl Tobias in a Slate commentary. The authors set about enumerating these reasons why Americans should worry that an understaffed judiciary is “hazardous to their health:”

• “Justice delayed truly is justice denied.”
• “Overtaxed federal judges can’t do justice at some point.”
• “Potential judges won’t agree to be nominated.”
• “The more seats remain vacant, the greater the incentive to politicize the process.”
• “The rampant politicization of the selection process is undermining public respect for the co-equal branches of government.”

There is a risk, the authors conclude, that citizens observing the current nominations wars will accept a politicized view of judges “as a bunch of alternating partisan hacks and a federal bench that is limping, rather than racing, to do justice.”

Meanwhile a Los Angeles Times editorial urged, “Quit stalling on these judges.” It alluded to the nominations of Edward Chen and Kimberly Mueller for federal district judgeships in California and of Goodwin Liu for an appeals court seat. To learn more about President Obama’s judicial nominations record and polarized politics in the Senate, click here for Gavel Grab.

Full post as published by The Gavel on September 29, 2010 (boomark / email).