Still Time for Movement on Judges

This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on two judicial nominees, Judges Alberto Diaz and James A. Wynn, Jr. both nominated to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The committee decided to wait until Christmas Eve to vote on the nomination of Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

As of today, the Senate has confirmed 11 federal judges, including Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. By December 17, in the first years of both the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations each had 27 federal judges confirmed.

We have previously pointed out the slow pace of judicial selection in the first year of the Obama administration. Not much has changed since then.

There is still time before the recess for the Senate to vote on the nominations that have cleared the Judiciary Committee. Yesterday, Senator Leahy (D-VT) called on his colleagues to vote on these nominees:

“I hope Senate Republicans will lift their objections, and allow us to proceed on the 27 nominations reported by the Judiciary Committee. Absent cooperation to confirm nominations, this Congress will be recorded in history as one of the least productive in the confirmation of judicial nominations. I hope the New Year will bring a renewed spirit of cooperation.”

The president must nominate and the Senate must confirm judges who will be strong voices for upholding the Constitution and the law to provide equal justice and protect personal freedoms for everyone in America.

Weekly Judicial Selection Snapshot

As we mentioned earlier this week, we are now providing data on judicial selections more frequently. Here is this week's update:

On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed Jacqueline Nguyen to a seat on the United States District Court for the Central District of California by a vote of 97 to 0. Judge Nguyen, previously a Superior Court Judge for the County of Los Angeles, is the first Vietnamese American to serve as an Article III judge in our nation's history. She is the seventh Obama district court nominee to be confirmed.

Also on Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the nomination of O. Rogeriee Thompson to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. There were no Republican committee members present at the hearing. If confirmed, Thompson would be the first African American and the second woman to serve on the First Circuit.

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Thomas I. Vanaskie, nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, to the full Senate by a vote of 16-3, with Grassley (R-IA), Coburn (R-OK), and Cornyn (R-TX) voting no. The committee also advanced Louis B. Butler, Jr., nominee to the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, to the full Senate by a party-line vote of 12-7.

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held over votes on Denny Chin, nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Rosanna Peterson, nominee to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, and William M. Conley, nominee to the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, until next Thursday.

This morning, President Obama announced three district court nominations: Nancy D. Freudenthal to the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming, D. Price Marshall Jr. to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Benita Y. Pearson to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

Judicial Nominations Numbers

27 Nominations Overall (nominee last names in parentheses):

11 Confirmations:

Breakdown by Court:

1 SCT: (Sotomayor)
3 CCA: (Lynch, Davis, Hamilton)
7 DCT: (Viken, Lange, Berger, Honeywell, Reiss, Kallon, Nguyen)
19 Nominees Pending:

Breakdown by Court:

9 CCA: (Thompson, Chin, Vanaskie, Greenaway, Keenan, Diaz, Wynn, Stranch, Martin)
10 DCT: (Jackson, Butler, Conley, Seeborg, Gee, Chen, Peterson, Freudenthal, Marshall, Pearson)
Breakdown by Status:

10 Nominees Pending in the Judiciary Committee:

4 CCA: (Thompson, Chin, Diaz, Wynn)
6 DCT: (Jackson, Conley, Peterson, Freudenthal, Marshall, Pearson)
9 Pending on the Senate Floor:

5 CCA: (Greenaway, Keenan, Stranch, Martin, Vanaskie)
4 DCT: (Seeborg, Gee, Chen, Butler)
97 Total Federal Court Vacancies:

20 Court of Appeals ("CCA") Vacancies
77 District Court ("DCT") Vacancies
0 Supreme Court ("SCT") Vacancies

Historic Hearing For Asian American Nominees

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on 4 federal district court nominees all nominated to fill seats in California: While Senator Feinstein (D-CA) was scheduled to chair the committee, she ended up busy on the Senate floor and Senator Franken (D-MN) chaired today’s hearing. The four nominees: Jacqueline H. Nguyen to the Central District of California; Edward Milton Chen to the Northern District of California; Dolly M. Gee to the Central District of California; and Richard Seeborg to the Northern District of California represent a number of firsts and the hearing marks a historic day for Asian Americans.

The hearing room was packed with prominent members of the Asian American legal community, family of the nominees, and other supporters, a somewhat unusual occurrence for district court nominees, but expected given its historical significance. There was a noticeable feeling of pride among many of the attendees today surely due to the excellent qualification s of the nominees. Two have proven track records as sitting jurists, and all three of the Asian American nominees have strong support from the Asian Pacific American community in addition to bipartisan support from bar organizations and leaders in the legal community.

If confirmed, Edward Milton Chen would be the first Asian Pacific American district court judge in the history of the NDCA, (this is especially significant given that approximately 35% of the population in San Francisco is Asian Pacific American). Dolly M. Gee would be the first Chinese American female district court judge in the history of the United States, and Jacqueline H. Nguyen would be the first Vietnamese American district court judge in he history of the United States and the first Asian Pacific American female district court judge in California history.

In American history, there have been only four Asian American federal circuit court judges and 14 Asian American federal district court judges. Asian Americans are still significantly underrepresented on the federal bench. To learn more about Asian American federal judges, check out Alliance for Justice’s recently released fact sheet.