Every American Has a Stake in Judicial Confirmations     5/13/2005
By Jan LaRue, Chief Counsel

Even if you don’t live in one of the states suffering a shortage of federal judges, you still have a stake in judicial confirmations.

This is something Democrats and Republicans should worry about. Whatever part of the nation you’re from, your rights are protected in the federal judiciary if there is [sic] true checks and balances. Your rights are protected in our national government in the United States Senate if there are true checks and balances. What they’re trying to do is destroy it in both places. We should never allow that to happen. -- Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) speaking at a press conference on Capitol Hill, May 9, 2005

Whether President Bush’s outstanding nominees to the 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th and D.C. Circuit Courts of Appeal are confirmed affects directly the people in 24 states who live in their jurisdiction. Those states are Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee, California, Arizona, Hawaii, Alaska, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alabama, Georgia and Florida, the District of Columbia, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

These Republican senators claim to be undecided and do not represent anyone in the affected states: Hagel of Nebraska, Lugar of Indiana, Specter of Pennsylvania, Snowe and Collins of Maine, and Sununu of New Hampshire. The only states affected are represented by these undecided Republican senators: Murkowski of Alaska, Smith of Oregon, Warner of Virginia and McCain of Arizona. Yet, the actions of all these senators affect all Americans.

For example, none of Sen. Chaffee’s 1 million constituents in Rhode Island are directly affected because none of the judges are nominated to the 1st Circuit; but approximately 165 million people outside Rhode Island are affected.

The only thing correct in Sen. Leahy’s statement is that “whatever part of the nation you’re from,” you are affected by “the federal judiciary.” This is why we’re urging all Americans to call the Republican senators who have yet to support Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist’s commitment to restore the historic confirmation process. Ask them to stop the phony filibusters and allow the majority of senators, those who want to vote, to vote.

What’s happening now is just a prelude to the fireworks when the president has the opportunity to nominate a justice(s) to the U.S. Supreme Court. Unless the obstructionist filibustering of judicial nominees is stopped now, it will no doubt be used then. And that will affect all 296 million of us.

Take Action:
Call your U.S. senators to tell them to stop the phony filibusters, and vote! Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121.

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