Writing for The Root, Professor Sherrilyn Ifill takes issue with an op-ed by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, published in The Washington Post earlier this year. Ifill, a University of Maryland law school professor, describes the piece as "a stunning breach of manners and an embarrassing display of unwarranted hysteria about what Wilkinson described as rumors of a political 'takeover' of the 4th Circuit."
In his piece, Judge Wilkinson, former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, wrote that "the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is set for a takeover," at the hands of President Obama.
"Popular commentary has it that the court, on which I serve, is a fortress or bastion or citadel of conservatism," Wilkinson stated. "Discussion of coming changes suggests more the fruits of a successful military campaign than the result of an election giving our new president the right to nominate members to a judicial body."
Ifill replies: