Posted by Orin Kerr:
Do Stellar Resumes Mean Congressional Delay?:
The [1]Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article about Jon
Lott's study of credentials and judicial confirmation rates. To make a
long story short, the study suggests that more credentialed nominees
to federal courts of appeal take longer to confirm. The question is,
why?
I think the answer lies in the recognizable correlation, at least in
the last 20 or 30 years, between the credentials of lower court
judicial nominees and their eventual influence as judges. An unusual
number of the most influential judges had extremely impressive
credentials as judicial nominees, including Judges Posner,
Easterbrook, Kozinski, Luttig, and W. Fletcher, just to name a few.
These judges tend to have unusual influence on their colleagues, on
academics, and on their clerks, a number of whom go on to clerk at the
Supreme Court. They are also more likely to be in the running
themselves for future openings on the Supreme Court.
Given this, it's understandable that there would tend to be more
Senate opposition to more highly credentialed nominees. On average,
the stakes are higher.
Thanks to Micael Cernovich for the link.
References
1. http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0415/p03s01-usju.html
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