Change is Coming to the Conservative Fourth Circuit

Schadenfreude alert...It looks like the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the most conservative court in the country by anyones measure, may move to the left by default.

The court is operating with three vacancies on the fifteen-judge panel, with another vacancy looming in July. This will leave the court with five Democrat-appointed judges and six Republican-appointed judges. Complicating things further, one of the Republican appointees has announced his intent to continue to serve on the court in a Senior Status capacity, which is like semi-retirement. He will continue to hear cases, but will assume a significantly reduced work load and he will not be considered an active member of the court. (He will receive full pay, of course. Don't be a Phillistine).

The nominees that Bush has offered to fill those vacancies face grim prospects of gaining Senate approval in the 110th Congress.

And here's where I get all schadenfreude...

I have not forgotten how the other side behaved in regard to the judiciary. I recall Clinton nominees never getting out of committee because a senator from the nominees home state could kill the nomination with a "blue slip." Most famously was John Ashcroft "blue slipping" Missouri Supreme Court Justice Ronnie White.

What was one of the very first acts of the senate when they became Republican? They removed that blue slip option so no Bush judicial nominees could be held up in such a manner.

Once that was tended to, Bush named truly awful nominees, and some of them were confirmed, in a compromise to stop the "Nuclear Option" that Frist and company threatened to enact.

The Republicans used the sanctity of the Judiciary as a cudgel. It serves them right to lose their sway on the Fourth Circuit.

Why is the Fourth so important you might ask? The Fourth covers Washington D.C. and is the court that will hear the appeals of terrorism cases. A conservative court will put up with a lot more constitutional abrogation and misbehavior on the part of the government when those cases come up on appeal than a moderate or a liberal court would. Don't get me wrong - I don't want any terrorists to go free - and that is exactly why I want the law followed when they are detained and when they are questioned.

I want the cases made, not tossed.

How the Fourth breaks in the next 18 months will be significant for several years, because the appointments are for life.

And a Liberal Fourth would soooo serve 'em right.