President Nominates Three Judges, to Fix Imaginary Judicial Vacancy Crisis; Fewer Judges Needed on D.C. Circuit

by Hans Bader on June 4, 2013

As The New York Times reports, “President Obama on Tuesday named a slate of judges to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, daring his rivals to block their  confirmations.”  There are three vacancies on the D.C. Circuit, which progressive groups claim has resulted in a “judicial crisis” and overworked judges facing a blizzard of new cases.

The Huffington Post depicts these judicial nominations as a judicial dare to Republicans, in a story entitled, “BLOCK THEM: I DARE YOU.” Peddling the myth that there is a vacancy crisis that can be solved only by appointing more progressive judges may be a good way for the president to rile up his political base and create a political confrontation, but the “judicial crisis” claims have little basis in reality….. Appellate judges, like other people, prefer cushy jobs. And the more judges there are on a court, the less work there is for each judge to do.  As a result, chief judges of circuit courts declare “judicial emergencies” because of vacancies even when many of the judges on a court have remarkably little work to do……. America is facing a fiscal crisis, not a judicial crisis…… As Whelan says, discussing a Bush appointee to the D.C. Circuit, “Janice Rogers Brown’s path to confirmation (from initial nomination) took nearly 23 months.”.......To Read More....