Alliance for Justice Report Analyzes Obama Administration Judicial Nominees and Glacial Pace of Senate Confirmations

Washington, D.C., September 13, 2010 – With President Barack Obama’s nominees for federal judgeships facing unprecedented hurdles in the United States Senate, Alliance for Justice has released a detailed analysis of the nature of the nominees themselves and the glacial pace at which they received final confirmation votes during the first 20 months of the Obama presidency.

AFJ’s State of the Judiciary report, The Obama Administration: The First 20 Months, uses statistical data and in-depth analysis to compare the record on judicial nominations in this administration with those of recent presidents. Among the results: 

• The rate at which President Obama’s nominees have been confirmed is significantly lower than it was for his five predecessors, both in aggregate numbers and in the percentage confirmed.
• President Obama has seen a smaller percentage of his nominees confirmed at this point in his presidency than any president in American history.  
• The number of “judicial emergencies,” as defined by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, has dramatically risen from twenty at the beginning of the Obama term to forty-nine. Twenty-two states face this situation where there are not enough sitting judges to handle the case load and the judicial system faces serious delays.  
• President Obama’s nominees are the most diverse in American history. In fact, 44% of his nominees are female, doubling the rate of women appointed in the Bush Administration, and 44% are African-American, Hispanic, or Asian-American. Only 18% of George Bush’s appointees were non-white.

AFJ President Nan Aron commented on the report, saying, “Our nation’s federal courts are facing a growing crisis as judicial vacancies rise and case loads pile up. Every empty bench is a blow to the swift and efficient administration of justice and does irreparable harm to the American people’s confidence and trust in the legal system. Justice should not be allowed to fall victim to partisan gamesmanship. The Senate needs to quickly bring to a final vote all of the President’s nominees currently being held hostage by delaying tactics and procedural machinations.” 

A copy of the report may be obtained on the AFJ website at http://www.afj.org/check-the-facts/nominees/afj-report-state-of-the-judiciary-obama-at-20-months.pdf.  

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Alliance for Justice is a national association of over 100 organizations dedicated to advancing justice and democracy. For more than 30 years has led the fight for a more equitable society on behalf of a broad constituency of environmental, consumer, civil and women's rights, children's, senior citizens' and other groups. Alliance for Justice is premised on the belief that all Americans have the right to secure justice in the courts and to have our voices heard when government makes decisions that affect our lives.