The obstruction of Obama's judicial nominees is unprecedented, creating a number of "judicial emergencies" around the country. Only 47 percent of Obama's nominees have been confirmed, compared to 59 percent for George W. Bush around the same time in his administration. Combined with the administration's sluggishness at putting forth nominees, this has produced some really desperate circumstances in the federal court system. Jamelle Bouie recently wrote a piece outlining just how bad things are getting:
This isn't an isolated problem. Lower courts in the United States have more than 100 vacancies, with 20 empty seats on the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals and 84 on the District Courts. According to the Alliance for Justice, 22 state courts have openings that are classified as "judicial emergencies." These are seats that have been vacant for more than 18 months, with each remaining judge responsible for hundreds more filings. Moreover, since President Barack Obama entered office last year, the number of emergencies has more than doubled -- with disastrous consequences for the legal system. On the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, for example, three vacancies have left just one remaining judge responsible for an additional 1,170 filings. With fewer judges available to hear a growing number of cases, justice is delayed -- and often denied -- for thousands of Americans.
It's gotten so bad that, Ian Millhiser writes, a number of Republican judges are now begging the GOP to stop obstructing Obama's nominees.
In order to do our work, and serve the public as Congress expects us to serve it, we need the resources to carry out our mission. While there are many areas of serious need, we write today to emphasize our desperate need for judges. Our need in that regard has been amply documented (See attached March 2009 Judicial Conference Recommendations for Additional Judgeships). Courts cannot do their work if authorized judicial positions remain vacant.
While we could certainly use more judges, and hope that Congress will soon approve the additional judgeships requested by the Judicial Conference, we would be greatly assisted if our judicial vacancies–some of which have been open for several years and declared “judicial emergencies”–were to be filled promptly. We respectfully request that the Senate act on judicial nominees without delay.
Andrew Sullivan recently referred to the GOP strategy as "organized vandalism" and I think that's as good a term as any. Even the most benign, Republican-friendly elements of Obama's agenda, like the new START treaty, are subject to total opposition from the GOP. They use what power they have to prevent government from performing basic duties at any level of efficiency, and then turn around and argue that this reflects a failure of leadership on the part of the president. The pursuit of political power is more important to the party than civic responsibility. It's a testament to the power of low expectations that this hasn't produced more of an outrage, especially since they aren't even pretending otherwise.
