Senate Not Confirming Obama's Judicial Nominees

The Senate confirmed 19 judicial nominees in December, making a total of 62 since Mr. Obama took office, including Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. At the same point in Mr. Bush's presidency, the Senate had confirmed 100 judicial nominees...

For years, both Democrats and Republicans have labeled as extremists judicial nominees picked by the opposing party's president, and they have marshaled reams of statistics intended to demonstrate that they are more fair-minded than their political adversaries when considering judicial candidates.

During Mr. Bush's presidency, Democrats' resistance broke only when a bipartisan "Gang of 14" senators cut a deal to approve most of the blocked nominees while letting a few of the most-controversial nominees languish.

The chief justice's report cited areas where the court system's case load significantly grew in 2010: nonbusiness bankruptcies, which increased by 14% to about 1.6 million, and fraud cases, up 12% to 9,400.

The figures indicated a federal crackdown on immigration violations, with criminal cases, mostly for improper reentry by aliens, up 9% to 28,000. In contrast, federal drug cases dropped 5% to 16,000.

The report, as usual, spoke of the need for adequate funding for the court system. "Congress will face extraordinary challenges in addressing the federal deficit," Chief Justice Roberts observed. But whatever happens across the street at the Capitol, "the Supreme Court itself is doing its part," he wrote, and planned to reduce its budget request next year.

"Not many other federal government entities can say that," he wrote.

The best way to fix the confirmation process is to repeal the 17th Amendment. As it is, politicians have to demagogue and preen and turn the process into a media circus because they have to get media attention to get re-elected. Get the media out of the process by getting politics out of the process and let Senators do their job with the more-effective oversight of state legislatures who will better enforce the Constitution's limits on the federal government that voters can.

Kagan Confirmed

63-37

Another reason to repeal the 17th Amendment is to get politics out of the judiciary. Not only are Senators beholden to the party system, but judges are as well, due to the confirmation process. Politicians both oppose and support candidates based on party affiliation instead of qualifications. This is a disgraceful process.

Supreme Court Justice Confirmation Hearing Moment Of The Day

Brought to you by Jimmy Kimmel:



These hearings are a joke.

The Ridiculous Senate Confirmation Process

Senators are asking Elena Kagan who she likes on Twilight: Eclipse.



Senate hearings have become an utterly useless process as far as gathering information. Now they're all about grandstanding, demagogueing, and feeling superior to "the little people". These people have a job where they know they're virtually unaccountable. Repeal the 17th Amendment and maybe we'll have someone in Washington who's concerned about actually doing their job.

Hat tip: Hot Air

Judge Napolitano: Kiss Your Freedom Goodbye

If this healthcare bill becomes law:

Congress recognizes no limits on its power. It doesn't care about the Constitution, it doesn't care about your inalienable rights. If this health care bill becomes law, America, life as you have known it, freedom as you have exercised it, and privacy as you have enjoyed it will cease to be.

...

In the Constitution, the Founders built in checks and balances. If the Congress got out of hand, the states would restrain it. If the states stole liberty or property, the Congress would cure it. If the president tried to become a king, the courts would prevent it.

In the next few weeks, I will be giving a public class on Constitutional Law here on the Fox News Channel, on the Fox Business Network, on Foxnews.com, and on Fox Nation. In anticipation of that, many of you have asked: What can we do now about the loss of freedom? For starters, we can vote the bums out of their cushy federal offices! We can persuade our state governments to defy the Feds in areas like health care—where the Constitution gives the Feds zero authority. We can petition our state legislatures to threaten to amend the Constitution to abolish the income tax, return the selection of U.S. senators to state legislatures, and nullify all the laws the Congress has written that are not based in the Constitution.

One thing we can’t do is just sit back and take it.

Emphasis mine.

That's as much as I could fairly quote, but I recommend reading the whole thing. The Judge does a great job communicating positive steps that we the people can take to fight such infringements on our freedom.

Since the 17th Amendment was enacted, the States cannot check the legislature, and the Senate cannot check the President's judicial appointments. And with the Senate's compliance in the President's judicial appointments, the judiciary cannot be trusted to check the President either. The Senate played a vital role in protecting and defending the Constitution. The only way to restore the Senate to its Constitutional role is to repeal the 17th Amendment.

Since We're on The Subject...

Sonia Sotomayor was reversed by the Supreme Court in 3 of her 5 opinions:

With Judge Sonia Sotomayor already facing questions over her 60 percent reversal rate, the Supreme Court could dump another problem into her lap next month if, as many legal analysts predict, the court overturns one of her rulings upholding a race-based employment decision.

Three of the five majority opinions written by Judge Sotomayor for the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals and reviewed by the Supreme Court were reversed, providing a potent line of attack raised by opponents Tuesday after President Obama announced he will nominate the 54-year-old Hispanic woman to the high court.

"Her high reversal rate alone should be enough for us to pause and take a good look at her record. Frankly, it is the Senates duty to do so," said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America.

But opponents have an uphill battle.

Ms. Sotomayor's nomination is a direct affront to the ideal that we are a nation of laws. The "empathy" standard itself violates the concept of equal justice. The only way to stop her from being confirmed is to turn public opinion against her so that Senators won't vote for her. If we didn't have a 17th Amendment, Senators would be held accountable by state legislatures which would demand that they only support candidates who would maintain decentralization of power. Until the 17th Amendment is repealed, judicial nominations will continue to be circus events, filled with political posturing and absolutely certain to result greater and greater politicization of what is supposed to be an impartial and objective judiciary.