The Alliance For Justice has a new report out today about the glacial pace with which the Senate has taken up Obama's judicial nominations, which concludes that "President Obama has seen a smaller percentage of his nominees confirmed at this point in his presidency than any president in American history." By way of historical comparison, Obama has seen only 47 percent of his nominees confirmed, compared to 59 percent for George Bush, 67 percent for Bill Clinton, and 83 percent for George H.W. Bush.
What this means is not only are "Twenty-two states fac[ing] the situation where there are not enough sitting judges to handle the case load and the judicial system faces serious delays, jeopardizing justice for both plaintiffs and defendants," but the composition of the courts, two years into a Democratic administration, is still largely Republican.
By the end of 2008, 59.5% of all active federal judges were appointed by Republican presidents. The first 20 months of the Obama Administration have brought minimal change to the overall partisan composition of the courts. As of September 1, 2010, approximately 58.9% of all active federal judges were Republican-appointed, only 0.6% less than at the end of the Bush Administration.
The obvious and immediate benefit to having friendly judges on federal courts should be obvious to an administration that is facing a political opposition that probably regards their redecorating choices as unconstitutional. The administration's polices are going to face a number of constitutional challenges over the next few years, and they're going to find those challenges being evaluated by judges who, as a matter of ideology, empathize with the other side. Why the administration isn't screaming bloody murder about this is beyond me. It's not going to get any easier after the midterms.
Judicial diversity is another casualty of Republican obstructionism and executive indifference. According to the report, the administration has nominated the most diverse slate ever, with 44 percent of the nominees being women or people of color.
