by TChris

There's no doubt that the sprawling Ninth Circuit has a huge caseload, but that isn't the motivation underlying conservative efforts to divide the circuit into two or three parts. Long viewed by the right as a "liberal" circuit, conservatives hope to diminish its influence by breaking it into smaller pieces.

Next week, Senator John Ensign, Republican of Nevada, plans to introduce a bill to split the circuit into three parts. Representative Mike Simpson, Republican of Idaho, has already introduced legislation that would create two new appellate courts for the area.

Right wing Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, doesn't want to approve the addition of judgeships to any circuit (even though that would be the best solution to the workload problem) until the Ninth Circuit has been split. Most Ninth Circuit judges oppose the plan.

Federal Judges rarely respond publicly to criticism. It makes this "letter to the editor" by U.S. District Court Judge Charles B. Kornmann of Aberdeen, S.D. even that much more compelling. Check it out. (Via My DD.)

Misunderstanding Alarming

To the Editor - A recent article by Professor Art Marmorstein displayed an alarming misunderstanding of the nature of our government. He stated that judges are either of the John Lennon school or the Bolshevik school. I know judges in South Dakota and most federal judges. The professor is badly mistaken.

He praised James Dobson's Family Policy Council. Dobson in Sioux Falls last year stated that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is "the most dangerous man in America." Does that sound like a rational statement? Outlandish statements by Dobson, Pat Robertson and others encourage deranged people to act violently against judges and relatives of judges.

Say hello to "Draft Edward Prado for Supreme Court Justice." Judge Prado is the only Bush nominee to an appeals court that I have endorsed. He'd make a great Supreme Court Justice.

In 2003, Judge Prado made Sen. Schumer's short list of nominees contained in this letter to President Bush.

A former stripper in Nevada has won an election for a municipal court judgeship. Good for her.

Ex-stripper Diana Hampton will soon have something new to wear — judicial robes. Hampton was elected to the Municipal Court in Henderson on Tuesday, defeating Michael Miller in a run-off by 176 votes.

Hampton, 39, had acknowledged during the campaign that she worked at a Las Vegas striptease club to help pay her way through college 14 years ago. She called it "a fact of life" and said she hoped the interest it drew to her candidacy would eventually die down.

Update: And a former dominatrix is pondering a 2006 run for Governor of Nevada.

The Senate today confirmed William Pryor as a Judge on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Here's what the Times had to say about him after his 2004 recess appointment. More reasons Pryor was opposed are here.

The Senate will take up William Meyers next, whom I refer to as the "fall guy" in the Senate compromise. He'll probably be confirmed - the compromisers just didn't guarantee it.

If anyone expected Arlen Specter to be a balancing force, see TChris's post here and what Dobson said here.

Can I give a huge Told You So? What's amazing is not that Janice Rogers Brown was confirmed to a seat on the prestigious D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today, but that Democrats were so naive as to think she might be defeated in an up or down vote. Like any Republicans were going to vote against her? Once the compromise went in, she, Owen and Pryor were shoo-ins. Spare me the tears.....this is the fault of the 14 oligarchic centrist compromisers....Biggest mistake the Senate has made in years.

Why would Ben Nelson (D-NE) break ranks to vote for Rogers Brown?

Your Senate Compromise at work. The Dems caved today and agreed to allow an up or down vote on California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown. Score one for the oligarchy, led by John McCain with an assist from Colorado freshman Senator Ken Salazar, among others.

Brown is headed to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, considered a stepping stone to the Supreme Court. As to why she's opposed by Democrats:

Say Hello to the Supreme Court Nomination Blog, a sister blog to Scotus Blog. Also check out Scotus' roundup of expert opinions on Monday's medical marijuana opinion in Gonzales v. Raich - keep scrolling.

The Revealer:

Blogger Too Beautiful catches an important omission in a Fort Worth Star-Telegram profile of controversial Bush judicial nominee Priscilla Owen. In what appears to be an attempt to humanize the widely-feared nominee, reporter Dave Montgomery notes Owens' involvement in her church's Sunday school. Fine. But should Montgomery have also noted that the church is as much in the fray as Owens? Too Beautiful did his homework and discovered that Owens' congregation left the Episcopal Church last year in protest of homosexual ordination. Seems like a salient detail, and one that the paper overlooked not because they were whitewashing it, but because reporters and editors likely file "church" under one catchall, feel-good category.

The White House is busy researching potential Supreme Court replacements, in anticipation of a June retirement of Chief Justice Rehnquist who suffers from thyroid cancer. Some speculate he's already made his choice. Here is the list of those believed to be in the running.

I predict it's down to three choices:

• Former Solicitor General Ted Olson
• Former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson
• 10th Circuit Judge Michael McConnell

Of the three, I hope he picks Larry Thompson, whom I know and trust, an opinion shared by many defense lawyers.

But I think Bush will pick Ted Olson, the arch conservative and his lawyer in the Supreme Court in the Bush v. Gore case. Olsen has very strong ties to Richard Mellon Scaife, and is a staunch member of the New Theocracy.

by TChris

Update: In a piece entitled "The Uncompromising Mr. Bush," Carl Cannon reminds us of the other filibuster compromise.
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Original post:

The "compromise" (capitulation?) over judicial nominations may unravel by the end of the Supreme Court's current term. The filibuster is protected only while the Republican Senators who defied Bill Frist adhere to their agreement. They're being pressured by the likes of James Dobson, who urges his radio listeners to subject Senators DeWine and Graham to a "continuing barrage" of conservative outrage. The right is threatening to challenge DeWine in next year's primary.

The compromising Senators have very different takes on the agreement's meaning. Democrats can filibuster under "extraordinary circumstances," a deliberately vague phrase that leaves room for a wide diversity of interpretation. Members of the extreme right will never believe that "extraordinary circumstances" exist to justify the filibuster of a Bush nominee, and they intend to attack the agreement as soon as Democrats block a judicial confirmation.

The filibuster exists only so long as Republican compromisers continue to block the right wing's goal: burying the filibuster before Chief Justice Rehnquist resigns. Graham is already showing signs of caving in to the pressure.

Praise is due Senator Lincoln Chaffee who was the only Republican Senator today to vote against Priscilla Owen. Here's the vote tally. [hat tip How Appealing]

Two Democrats voted for her: Mary Landrieu and Robert Byrd.