Especially meaningful given Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s death yesterday.
[WashingtonExaminer] The Senate, led by Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, confirmed eight federal judges in just three days as the Republicans' efforts to reshape the courts continue.Eight of President Trump’s judicial nominees will take to the bench in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, and Illinois as the total number of judges nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate reaches 216.
Disruptions caused by the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...pandemic exacerbated a judicial emergency in the Central District of California. Each judge in the Central District Of California was responsible for nearly double the national average of cases prior to the pandemic, but officials say there will be a "significant backlog of trials" when the pandemic is over. The then-chief judge in the district sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee and the White House asking Washington to speed up the process of appointing new judges.
Iain Johnston and Franklin Valderrama were confirmed to the Northern District of Illinois. Stephen McGlynn and David Dugan will sit on the bench in the Southern District of Illinois.
John Holcomb, Stanley Blumenfeld, and Mark Scarsi are headed to the Central District of California, the most populated federal judicial district in the nation, which is headquartered in Los Angeles. Todd Robinson was confirmed to the Southern District of California.
In June, Trump broke a record after 200 of his nominees to the federal judiciary were confirmed by the Senate. There are currently 68 vacancies across the federal court system. The president has nominated candidates for 42 of those positions.
"When we depart this chamber today, there will not be a single circuit court vacancy anywhere in the nation for the first time in at least 40 years," McConnell said ahead of the confirmation of Judge Justin Walker, Trump’s 200th judge.
"My motto for the year is 'leave no vacancy behind,'" McConnell told Hugh Hewitt in February. "That includes district courts as well. So, we're a long way from being finished with doing court confirmations this year."
Related:
Mitch McConnell: 2020-09-12 Victor Davis Hanson predicts street violence will continue until 'we start indicting people'
Mitch McConnell: 2020-09-12 Nick Sandmann Torches ACLU Associate, Professor Who Called Him 'Dangerous': 'I Will Not Be Canceled'
Mitch McConnell: 2020-09-10 Trump Announces New Supreme Court List [Updated]
Mitch McConnell: 2020-09-12 Victor Davis Hanson predicts street violence will continue until 'we start indicting people'
Mitch McConnell: 2020-09-12 Nick Sandmann Torches ACLU Associate, Professor Who Called Him 'Dangerous': 'I Will Not Be Canceled'
Mitch McConnell: 2020-09-10 Trump Announces New Supreme Court List [Updated]