Today’s New York Times ran an excellent editorial "Who's Filibustering Now?" on the threat by Senate Republicans to block any of President Obama’s judicial nominees that they do not approve.
Pointing out that when President Bush was the one nominating judges those same Senators said that “Filibustering the president’s nominees…would be an outrageous abuse of senatorial privilege.”
The Times also notes how successful ultraconservatives have been in packing the courts with judges who share their political agenda: “The nation is now saddled with hard-right Republican judges who are using the courts to push an agenda of hostility to civil rights and civil liberties; reflexive deference to corporations; and shutting the courthouse door to worthy legal claims. Mr. Obama has to repair the damage, which will require technically able judges who can provide a counterbalance to the ideologues who control many appeals courts.”
We agree. With more than 50 federal court vacancies, the president has an important opportunity to appoint highly qualified judges from a range of professional backgrounds, who will uphold the constitution’s core values of equal justice for all.
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