Things are starting to heat up in the Senate Judiciary Committee at last. Today Ranking Member Specter wrote an editorial appropriately titled "Justice Delayed". A few highlights:

The Senate must confirm nine more circuit court nominees this year to keep pace with President Clinton's confirmations during his final two years in office.

It would be a shame if the preliminary steps the Senate Judiciary Committee took in 2007 were lost in 2008. To date, it has been four months since the committee held a hearing on a circuit court nomination. Several highly qualified candidates have been awaiting hearings for many months, and it is my hope that Chairman Patrick Leahy and I will be able to schedule prompt hearings for all of these fine men and women. At a bare minimum, nominees received from the president in 2007 deserve a committee hearing and a vote before the end of 2008.

While I believe that every nominee deserves a fair vote in committee, one nominee in particular deserves immediate attention.

Former Acting Attorney General Peter Keisler's nomination has been pending for over 580 days without a committee vote -- even though he had a hearing in August 2006. . . .

Judge Robert Conrad, nominated to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, should also be considered expeditiously. The seat to which Judge Conrad is nominated has been vacant for over 13 years, and the nonpartisan Administrative Office of the Courts has declared the vacancy a judicial emergency. . . .

Messrs. Keisler and Conrad represent just two of the many qualified individuals that the president has nominated. All deserve timely consideration by the Judiciary Committee and a vote on the Senate floor.

# posted by Michael Thielen @ 2:02 PM