"Retreating in advance is a dangerous precedent to set," Russ Feingold
“Categorically unacceptable”: Advocates say Dems letting Trump appoint "radical extremist" judges | | | | | | | | | | | “Categorically unacceptable”: Advocates say Dems letting Trump appoint "... "Retreating in advance is a dangerous precedent to set," former Sen. Russ Feingold told Salon. | | | Legal advocacy groups on Friday accused Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of preemptively surrendering to Republicans with the deal he cut late Thursday night, which would forfeit four Democratic circuit court nominees in order to prioritize 13 district court nominees, further ceding appellate court appointments to Republicans. According to the Associated Press, the deal outlines a plan for the Senate to vote to confirm 13 more district court judges before the upper chamber adjourns in December. If the Senate votes to confirm all of these nominees, President Joe Biden will have successfully appointed 234 judges to federal courts — the same number of judges that President-elect Donald Trump appointed in his first term. As part of the deal, Republicans have agreed to the schedule. Previously, they were forcing procedural votes in order to slow down the confirmation process. The issue with the deal, however, is that all of the judges will be district court judges rather than circuit court judges, meaning that Republicans will likely get to appoint the replacements for the four pending vacancies on the circuit court level, potentially giving Republicans even more control over the federal judiciary on the appellate level. News of the deal was met with immediate criticism from groups like the American Constitution Society and its president, former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who told Salon that “it is extremely frustrating to hear the reported deal on circuit court nominees.” “The White House has nominated extremely qualified individuals for these seats and the Senate needs to do its job and hold votes on all of these nominees,” Feingold said. “All public officials need to be prepared to fight against the extremism that will come when Trump returns to office and retreating in advance is a dangerous precedent to set.” There are currently four circuit court nominees awaiting a floor vote in the Senate: Adeel Abdullah Mangi, who was nominated for the Third Circuit; Karla M. Campbell, who was nominated for the Sixth Circuit; Julia M. Lipez, who was nominated for the First Circuit; and Ryan Young Park, who was nominated for the Fourth Circuit. According to Feingold, the deal “paves the way for the incoming administration to install more conservative extremist judges on powerful courts of appeal, which in the past eight years have ruled again and again against the rights of Americans on issues ranging from reproductive freedom to voting rights. All of these lifetime appointments will affect our rights for generations to come.” Maggie Jo Buchanan, the managing director of the liberal advocacy group Demand Justice, called the deal “categorically unacceptable.” “These are critical seats that have real impacts on everyday Americans–we cannot allow Trump to fill them with radical extremists,” Buchanan said. “If Democratic Senators are already rolling over this easily while they still have power, we are in for trouble when Trump actually assumes office. We need leadership that’s up for a fight–and that starts now.” -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#33706): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/33706 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/109734844/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
