Posted on: Monday, December 3, 2001

Editorial
Judicial nomination game is afoot again

One of the enduring memories of the waning days of the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate was the shameless stalling on judicial nominations made by the Clinton administration.

A number of good potential jurists — including some from Hawai'i — saw their nominations either needlessly delayed or stopped altogether.

It now appears that the game is afoot again, only this time with the Democrats in charge.

While there may be legitimate reasons for holding back some nominations, the wholesale blocking smells of tit-for-tat.

Supporters of the current Judiciary Committee and its chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, will point out that at least 18 nominees have been confirmed already. True enough, but they are mostly noncontroversial district court nominations.

The more politically sensitive appointments to the appellate bench are lagging.

According to The Washington Post, just three of the 11 appellate nominations made by Bush have so far been confirmed.

Among those still waiting: Honolulu attorney Richard Clifton, nominated to the "Hawai'i" seat on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

There may be legitimate policy reasons why the majority has problems with some of these appointees. That's appropriate; it's the purpose of the confirmation process.

But rather than consigning nominees to limbo, they should be offered a hearing. As the system works today, the judiciary is damaged and nominees are treated unfairly.

While Congress obviously has a lot on its plate these days, the important constitutional process of hearing judicial nominations must not be allowed to languish.