Alliance for Justice Statement on Senate Judiciary Committee Approval of Seven Nominees to Federal Courts

Washington, D.C., September 23, 2010—Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron released the following statement in the wake of today’s Senate Judiciary Committee votes to approve seven nominees to federal district courts and circuit courts of appeals: 

Today’s vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee to send seven more highly qualified nominees to the Senate floor is a welcome development. But it will be meaningless if these nominees and the 16 others trapped in procedural quicksand by intransigent Senate Republicans are not given a final floor vote. With Senators rushing out of town to campaign, the full Senate must act immediately to clear the backlog before the election recess.

In a judicial system hobbled with what over-burdened courts themselves call “judicial emergencies,” it’s long past time to stop playing games with the federal judiciary. Before Senators go home to ask voters to re-elect them, they should do what they were elected to do in the first place and perform their constitutional duty of fully staffing the federal courts.

#####

Alliance for Justiceis 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.