ACS’s Fredrickson Says Justice Suffers as Court Vacancies Rise; Colo. Federal Judge Urges Senators to Act on Nominations

A rising number of vacancies on the federal bench is threatening the nation's judicial system, writes ACS Executive Director Caroline Fredrickson in a column for The Huffington Post.

Fredrickson writes:

The federal courts play a vital role in our democracy, ensuring constitutional rights and principles are protected and providing justice to citizens who have been wronged by discrimination, corporate malfeasance, criminal activities and other transgressions of the rule of law.

Congress also cannot easily take action to help uphold constitutional values for individuals and communities that have been wronged by the government or business entities. For example, it was years before Congress and the administration could respond to the Supreme Court's 2007 decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear ruling, which turned away an employment discrimination lawsuit brought by Lilly Ledbetter who was paid far less than her male co-workers for years. Recently a federal judge who owns stock in numerous companies involved in offshore oil drilling rejected the Obama administration's proposed six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling, maintaining the ban is too broad. And the DISCLOSE Act, aimed at providing transparency in elections following the high court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which held that corporations can funnel their profits into electioneering, has stalled in Congress. All of these actions show that Congress is not alone in ensuring justice. A fully functioning judiciary is also required.

But, Fredrickson notes, a rising number of vacancies on the federal bench is endangering the courts' ability to dispense justice.

Fredrickson maintains:

The vacancies on the federal bench will continue to grow, considering the glacial pace at which the Senate is moving on the president's judicial selections, resulting in a judicial system that is already overburdened coming to a grinding halt. Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, joining Kaufman and seven other senators last week in trying to move the nominations process along, noted that "Of the nearly 100 current judicial vacancies, 42 are considered judicial emergencies, almost half."

This is an unacceptable situation. The nation's courtrooms must not be left hostage to petty partisan bickering. That's why ACS is encouraging all who are concerned about an effective, efficient judicial system to follow the situation closely at JudicialNominations.org, and to become engaged in saving our courts from pitched, unnecessary and harmful political fracases.

See Fredrickson's entire article for The Huffington Post here.

The Denver Post reports today that the state's top federal district court judge has urged U.S. senators to start moving on judicial nominations saying vacancies are "impeding" the judicial process.

In a letter to leading senators on both sides of the aisle, Chief U.S. District Judge Wiley Y. Daniel wrote, "I believe it is in the best interest of the court, and the public it serves, that the judicial nomination and appointment process proceed at a reasonable pace designed to yield qualified judges within a reasonable period of time."

The newspaper notes that, "There are five active judges on the federal court in Denver, where seven active judges should be serving. The Judicial Conference of the United States has suggested the court needs an additional judge, which would bring the vacancy count to three."

Judge Wiley's letter urged the senators to specifically act on the judicial nomination of Denver attorney William Martinez. His nomination to the federal bench has been languishing for months.