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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: judicial nominations

judicial nominations stories: 15 news summaries
Doug Kendall

Republicans Stonewall Obama's Judges

Procedural maneuvers help Senate GOP stall confirmation process

Oct 26, 09 2:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - Despite the 95 yawning vacancies on the federal bench, Senate Republicans are blocking virtually all of President Obama’s nominees. Only three of Obama’s 22 nominees have been confirmed, as Republicans take the “partisan war over the courts into uncharted territory,” writes Doug Kendall for Slate. Both... More »

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Barack Obama • federal courts • Senate Republicans • judge • federal judges • judicial nominations • Obama administration • President Obama

 Obama Blasted for Letting 
 GOP Hold Up Judges 

Nominees locked in committee as vacancies build up

Oct 16, 09 6:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - At this point in their first terms, Bill Clinton had had nine federal judges confirmed and George W Bush eight—but Barack Obama has got only three judges through, despite sending 23 names to the Democratic-controlled Senate. Part of the problem is Republican obstructionists who've threatened filibusters and used parliamentary... More »

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Barack Obama • US Appeals court • court • federal judges • judicial nominations • Sonia Sotomayor

ANALYSIS

Stevens' Exit Would Break Court Tradition

Tradition sees justices sticking with party that appointed them

Sep 3, 09 2:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - Supreme Court justices have traditionally waited to retire until a member of the same party that nominated them held the presidency, writes Kate Klonick for True/Slant. The custom has prevailed even when the justice’s ideology drifted away from that party. But if the rumors about John Paul Stevens’ imminent... More »

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retirement • George HW Bush • Gerald Ford • John Paul Stevens • US Supreme Court • judicial nominations • David Souter • Sonia Sotomayor • judicial activism

 Sotomayor Oath to Be Televised 

Republicans feel they have dealt a blow to judicial empathy

Aug 7, 09 5:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sonia Sotomayor will be sworn in to the Supreme Court on national television tomorrow morning, marking the first time the judicial oath administration has been broadcast, the Washington Post reports. The ceremony will take place at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, following the practice of Samuel Alito, who broke... More »

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Jeff Sessions • empathy • US Supreme Court • judicial nominations • Obama administration • President Obama • Sonia Sotomayor

 Voters Favor 
 Sotomayor 
 2-1: Poll 

55% approve of Obama's pick

Jun 4, 09 2:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - Another poll has shown widespread support for Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination, Bloomberg reports. Of 3,000 voters polled by Quinnipiac University, 55% approved of President Obama's choice and 25% disapproved. But the Senate will ultimately decide, and Sotomayor is spending her third straight day meeting with lawmakers on the... More »

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US Supreme Court • judicial nominations • US Senate • opinion polls • Sonia Sotomayor

OPINION

 Attacking 
 Nominees 
 Demeans Court 


May 27, 09 3:53 PM CDT
(Newser) - The political attack ads popular in general elections have a profoundly negative effect on the public’s view of the Supreme Court when used during the nomination process, James L. Gibson writes fror Miller-McCune.com. “Politicized confirmation processes can indeed damage the institution of the US Supreme Court itself,... More »

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Samuel Alito • confirmation hearings • US Supreme Court • attack ad • judicial nominations • presidential appointment • Sonia Sotomayor

Analysis

What They'll
Say to Fight Sotomayor

Critics call nominee racially insensitive, lacking intellect

May 27, 09 10:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - Sonia Sotomayor’s opponents are already polishing their script, Politico reports. They’ll call her radical, racist, and stupid—albeit via softer buzzwords. She’s a “judicial activist” fond of “identity politics,” with a questionable “intellect.” Here are the charges against her:
  • She
... More »

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conservative • confirmation hearings • US Supreme Court • racial tension • judicial nominations • Sonia Sotomayor • Ricci v. DeStefano

(Newser) - Republican groups have already prepared dossiers and attack strategies on a host of possible Obama Supreme Court nominees, the New York Times reports. Ten memos obtained by the Times—all about female judges and scholars—focus on records of abortion rights, gay rights, and the citing of foreign... More »

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gay rights • abortion rights • sovereignty • US Supreme Court • judicial nominations • Obama administration • President Obama • conservative movement

ANALYSIS

Obama May Look Off-Court to Fill Souter Vacancy

Expect a woman from outside appeals circuit

May 1, 09 7:54 AM CDT
(Newser) - With everyone attempting to predict President Obama's thinking on a nominee to replace David Souter on the Supreme Court, CBS News makes two observations. The White House has dropped hints that it wants someone who is not a federal appeals court judge—as all nine current justices once were. And... More »

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Barack Obama • Ruth Bader Ginsburg • Jennifer Granholm • US Supreme Court • judicial nominations • David Souter • Elena Kagan

Moderate Is Obama's First Court Nominee

President to pick judge with bipartisan backing for Seventh Circuit

Mar 17, 09 6:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama will make his first judicial appointment this week, choosing a moderate judge for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, sources tell the New York Times. The selection of David Hamilton, an Indiana judge with bipartisan support, is meant to signal the administration's effort to reduce the... More »

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Barack Obama • US Court of Appeals • judge • confirmation hearings • federal judges • Lee Hamilton • judicial nominations • Obama administration

In 8 Years, Bush Revolutionized Appeals Courts

Below the high court, conservative judges for decades to come

Oct 29, 08 5:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - George W. Bush's two appointments tilted the Supreme Court to the right—but it's at the appellate level where his judicial legacy is greatest. The president has appointed fully a third of all appeals court judges, and Republican appointees now control 10 of the 13 circuits. The result, writes the... More »

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US Appeals court • US Court of Appeals • judge • US Supreme Court • George W. Bush • judicial nominations • conservatives

ANALYSIS

 Next Prez Could Keep, 
 Break Court's Balance 

Candidates likely to follow different philosophies in replacing aging liberal judges

Oct 7, 08 10:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - The next president will be able to either preserve the Supreme Court’s current ideological balance, or set it on a new conservative path, the Wall Street Journal reports. The youngest of the court’s liberals is 69, while the oldest of the conservatives is only 72. Hence, John McCain... More »

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Barack Obama • John McCain • US Supreme Court • judicial nominations

OPINION

Supreme Court Spot Might Be Clinton's Real Dream Ticket

Hillary's talents, impact could be maximized as Obama's first justice

May 21, 08 11:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Forget making her a powerless vice president—Barack Obama should promise Hillary Clinton the first available Supreme Court slot, James Andrew Miller writes in the Washington Post. This, arguably, would give her supporters a better incentive to stay in the Democratic fold, because Justice Clinton could actually "play a... More »

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Hillary Clinton • US Supreme Court • judicial nominations

McCain Vows
to Pick More Conservative Judges

Lashes out at judicial activists, Obama

May 6, 08 5:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - John McCain reached out to conservatives today, saying he would follow George Bush's lead in appointing judges, CNN reports. McCain drew sharp contrasts between his legal philosophy and that of both Democratic hopefuls before an audience in North Carolina. He specifically criticized Obama for voting against the confirmation of John... More »

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Barack Obama • John McCain • Samuel Alito • Samuel A. Alito • federal judges • McCain 2008 • conservative credentials • judicial nominations • strict constructionism

 Lindsey Graham,
 McCain's 'Mini-Me' 

Why the South Carolina senator is proud to be belittled by GOP candidate

Apr 9, 08 1:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - Sen. Lindsey Graham must be getting something special from his friendship with John McCain, Politico writes, because he's willing to be dubbed Mac’s “mini-me” in the press—and called “little jerk” by the candidate himself. Of course, it's worth it for the first-term South Carolina Republican, who... More »

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immigration • John McCain • South Carolina • maverick • Lindsey Graham • judicial nominations

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