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We were very surpised to learn today that 43% of those appointed to federal appeals courts in the U.S. have no prior judicial experience .
What's more, there is a racial imbalance in that a recent study shows that:
....white judges - and particularly white male judges - are much more likely to be named to the circuit appeals courts without prior judicial experience.
Bush's judicial nominees have been more likely than those of past Presidents to have prior judicial experience. To date, 61% of those he's nominated have served as judges.
...Historically we've been moving more and more towards this notion of a career judiciary," said [Elliott] Slotnick, a political science professor at Ohio State University. "Republicans in particular have been very interested in people with judicial experience or prosecutorial experience."
[thanks to Matthew at Untelevised.Org for the link]
Kudos to the Denver Post today for assailing Attorney General John Ashcroft for his recent dictate to prosecutors to keep tabs on federal judges who depart from sentencing guidelines against the Government's recommendations:
Sometimes, we wonder if U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft slept through some of his law school classes at the University of Chicago - you know, that stuff about checks and balances and an independent judiciary. Ashcroft's plan to have prosecutors across the country keep tabs on which federal district judges mete out sentences that are more lenient than those outlined in federal sentencing guidelines smacks of Big Brotherism and impermissible interference with the prerogatives of the judiciary.
After criticizing overly long sentences and the recent Feeney Amendment, the Post concludes with:
When Ashcroft became attorney general, he took an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic" and to "bear true faith and allegiance to the same."
By setting up a "blacklist" of judges who aren't Draconian enough, it sounds more like he's trying to demolish one of the basic pillars of American freedom, an independent judiciary.
The War on Our Freedoms
Richard C. Leone, Ed.
This is too much... if this is what the Judge in question said, he should be sent packing permanently. Of course, he's entitled to an investigation -let's hope there is a tape or other record of the proceeding:
An immigration judge was placed on administrative leave Monday after complaints that he made jokes about Tarzan to a woman who had been raped and tortured in her native Uganda.
The woman, whose first name is Jane, went before Judge Thomas Ragno in June, seeking political asylum in the United States because her husband was killed and she was beaten, raped and tortured in her homeland.
"Jane, come here. Me Tarzan!" Ragno said, according to the woman's physician, Dr. Sondra Crosby, who attended the June 20 deportation hearing to testify about the woman's injuries.
"It was disrespectful and insulting, and in my mind it was racist to have a white judge making Tarzan comments to a black woman," Crosby said.
Dr. Crosby filed a complaint about the judge and he was put on administrative leave. She says while she was in the courtroom,
...Ragno also listed to a weather forecast on his speaker phone and discussed his search for a new condominium.
Ragno has been a judge for 30 years. Maybe it's time for judicial term limits. Seems like there's some burnout going on.
Update: Thanks to the e-mailer who let us know we forgot the link, and sent in this similar article with more details about this judge's behavior in other cases. We've now inserted the link to the article we quoted in the post.
President Bush has nominated two more ultra-conservatives to the federal bench, adding fuel to Senate fire.
Both are nominated for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the second most influential court in the country. One is Janice Rogers Brown, whom we wrote about here. The New York Times reporter accurately, in our opinion, characterizes her this way:
Justice Brown, 54, has been touted intensively in conservative legal circles as someone whose judicial philosophy would match that of Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, both of whom Mr. Bush said would be his models for any Supreme Court appointments.
The other is Brett M. Kavanaugh.
Mr. Kavanaugh, at 38, would be one of the youngest members of the federal appeals bench. He is assistant to the president and staff secretary, and has been responsible for marshaling the fleet of largely conservative judicial nominees the president has sent to the Senate, resulting in angry battles with Democrats. But he is probably better known as a senior assistant to Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President and Mrs. Clinton for a variety of issues.
During the Clinton Administration, the Republicans refused to allow any judges to be appointed to the D.C. Circuit, claiming its light work load did not require more than ten judges. Miguel Estrada was to have been the tenth judge. That makes Rogers Brown and Kavenaugh numbers 11 and 12. What will the Republicans say now?
These judges are appointed for life. The D.C. Circuit is considered a direct line for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. If you care about preserving the independence of our judiciary during your children's lifetimes, get on the horn now and let your elected officials know you oppose these nominations.
Via Kevin at Calpundit:
Hey, remember that judge who asked a Lebanese-American woman if she was a terrorist when she appeared in court to fight a pair of parking tickets? Rob Dougherty brings us the good news that he's accepted a lifetime ban from the bench.
By a split vote of 10 to 9 along party lines, the Senate Judiciary Committee today approved the nomination of controversial Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The nomination now goes to the whole senate for a vote.
The New York Times again opposes the Senate confirmation of Judicial Nominee William Pryor in today's editorial, An Extremist Judicial Nominee. Here's the beginning:
The Senate Judiciary Committee could vote as early as today on the nomination of the Alabama attorney general, William Pryor, to a federal appeals court judgeship. Mr. Pryor is among the most extreme of the Bush administration's far-right judicial nominees. If he is confirmed, his rulings on civil rights, abortion, gay rights and the separation of church and state would probably do substantial harm to the rights of all Americans. Senators from both parties should oppose his confirmation.
Kenneth Karas, an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York , who is part of the proseuction team in the Zacarias Moussaoui case, has been nominated for a judgeship to the U.S. District Court in New York.
Karas has the approval of New York Senator Chuck Schumer. Schumer and the White House have agreed on the nomination. Karas is "co-chief of the New York office's organized crime and terrorism unit."
Update: Ed Still of the excellent VoteLaw has more, concluding:
My hypothesis is that Bill Pryor was close-mouthed about his fundraising for [Republican Attorney General's Association] RAGA because it violated state law and his own office's interpretation of that law. Documents I have not seen and skillful cross-examination of Pryor and others may prove the hypothesis.
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The Senate was scheduled to vote Thursday on the confirmation of Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. It has been delayed again, this time due to Democrats' concerns about his answers to fundraising questions:
Mr. Pryor's nomination was set for a vote today but was postponed after the Democrats raised a new issue that has little to do with his conservative views. They say Mr. Pryor may have been untruthful in answers to the committee about his role in soliciting political donations from tobacco, drug, energy and banking corporations that are often investigated by states and their attorneys general.
(346 words in story) There's More :: Permalink :: Comments
President Bush is considering nominating conservative California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown to a seat on the very powerful D.C. Court of Appeals.
The DC Court of Appeals is often regarded as a stepping stone to the U.S. Supreme Court. Bush may be grooming Rogers Brown for such an appointment. Here is why this is not a good thing.
Sen. Orrin Hatch has announced the confirmation hearing for Alabama Attorney General William Pryor for a seat on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has been delayed until next week.
The American Disability Association is mounting a national campaign to prevent Pryor's confirmation. Read their reasons here. Then check out Independent Judiciary and read all about Pryor, and see the huge list of organizations formally opposing his nomination.
With his vote delayed until next week, you have time to write your Senators if you haven't done so already and oppose Pryor's confirmation.
Justice Sandra O'Connor said this morning in a television interview that she expects to remain on the Supreme Court for the next term.
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