The Senate’s Hostage Game

William Fletcher was first nominated to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals more than three years ago, in April 1995. Fletcher is a UC Berkeley Law School professor with unassailable credentials and moderate jurisprudential views. Despite his qualifications, the nomination quickly became mired in partisan political games so bitter that the Senate Judiciary Committee refused to vote on his nomination until last May, approving it finally by a vote of 12 to 6.

Now Fletcher’s nomination, along with those of two others to the 9th Circuit, is stalled once again, this time on the Senate floor. Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) is in no rush to call for a vote on these highly qualified nominees before the Senate recesses this week. Though the Senate has finally acted on some nominees, one-quarter of the seats on the 9th Circuit remain vacant, delaying the resolution of disputes. The 9th Circuit, the largest of the federal appellate circuits, has jurisdiction over California and eight other western states.

In limbo with Fletcher are U.S. District Judges Richard Paez and Kim McLane Wardlaw, both from Los Angeles. Paez was nominated in 1996 and received a unanimous “well qualified” rating from the American Bar Assn., but he could not get a hearing before the Judiciary Committee last year. If confirmed, he would be one of just two Latino judges on the 28-seat court, in a circuit with a large and growing Latino population.

Wardlaw, nominated last January, was a litigator with O’Melveny and Myers, one of Los Angeles’ biggest law firms, before becoming a trial judge two years ago.

Stalling and partisan politics are hardly new to the business of confirming judges. Since federal jurists enjoy lifetime tenure, both Democrats and Republicans indulge in this exercise, hoping to minimize the number of appointments from a president of the opposing party. But the current Republican majority in the Senate has taken the game to a higher level of delay and dark dealings, provoking even U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist earlier this year to urge senators to vote--either up or down--on these and other nominations. The nominees deserve a decision before the Senate adjourns for the summer.