Senate Holds Hearing While Obstruction Continues to Burden Americans
Washington, D.C. — On Monday, October 5, the U.S. Senate finally confirmed Judge Dale Drozd to fill a judicial emergency on the federal bench in the Eastern District of California. This makes Drozd only the seventh judicial confirmation this year. Michele L. Jawando, Vice President for Legal Progress at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement on the matter:
Dale Drozd’s confirmation is a small glimmer of hope during a period of the worst judicial obstruction in more than half a century in our country. In comparison, at this point in the Bush administration, the Senate had confirmed nearly five times as many judges despite a divided government. The unyielding obstruction by Republican Senate leaders prevents Americans from having a fair, functioning, and diverse judiciary, having led to the largest backlog of civil and criminal cases in U.S. history, with some 330,000 civil cases currently pending and wait times for federal cases at an all-time high.
With 84 current and announced vacancies still waiting to be filled, yesterday’s vote may seem like just a drop in the bucket, but it is a step in the right direction. The Senate leadership’s failure to swiftly confirm all qualified pending nominees denies justice to millions of Americans in cases ranging from health care to voting rights—Americans whose right to a speedy trial is protected by our Constitution. To prevent further delay of justice, we urge Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the Senate leadership to switly move to vote and confirm the 10 nominees pending before the full Senate, and we urge Chairman Grassley (R-IA) to hold hearings and committee votes for the 21 nominees in the Senate Judiciary Committee so we can move the process forward for the sake of all Americans.
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Experts are available to speak on this topic. For more information, please contact Tanya S. Arditi at [email protected] or 202.741.6258.
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