Gavel Grab

In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts:

• On Monday, the Texas House of Representatives rejected a measure that would detach pensions for them from the pay of district judges, and prevent them from raising their own pensions. According to the Dallas Morning News, Rep. Jason Isaac, the sponsor of the amendment, said he proposed the budget change in order to serve the citizens of his district, and not himself.
• The Texas Senate and House of Representatives passed legislation last week aimed at strengthening the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. The commission is charged with investigating complaints of judicial misconduct, but Andrew What of Texans for Public Justice argues that the commission rarely punishes judges, reports KERA News.

Justice at Stake raised concerns on Thursday about legislation under consideration in some states to prosecute officials, including judges, who enforce federal firearms laws.

“It would be wrong to lock up judges for applying the rule of law, and legislation advancing in some states proposes to permit exactly that,” said JAS Deputy Executive Director Liz Seaton in a statement.

“Even if you disagree strongly with federal gun restrictions, slapping handcuffs on judges who do their job is dangerous overreach. Those who oppose federal gun laws can lobby to change them before Congress. Undermining the judiciary is not the answer.”

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In an Atlantic online commentary, legal scholar Garrett Epps examines one reason why judicial vacancies matter. He focuses on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and he maintains that four vacancies on that highly important court are effectively “swaying policy in America.”

Republican senators have blocked President Obama’s nominees to the 11-member appeals court so far, and it has a majority of judges appointed by Republican presidents. Epps takes issue with three key decisions of the court. They involve National Labor Relations Board appointments made by Prsident Obama; a NLRB rule requiring employers to put up a government poster telling workers of their rights; and Food and Drug Administration regulation of cigarette warning labels.

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The Texas Senate State Affairs Committee approved a bill on May 3 that would “end straight ticket voting for the state’s judicial offices,” states Gavel to Gavel.

Straight ticket ballots allow voters to select all candidates belonging to a political party, including judges. Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson has argued for ending the practice in recent years, the blog says.

Some argue that it has caused Texas counties to clear their bench entirely of one political party or another.

In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts:

• Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal discusses her new book, “The Roberts Court,” on an episode of PBS News Hour this week. During the interview, Coyle states that she used the book as an opportunity to explore the current U.S. Supreme Court in more depth, and better understand how the court’s view shifts over the years.
• On Monday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared it “Lambda Legal Day,” in honor of the organization’s 40th anniversary, according to a Lambda Legal press release. Lambda Legal, a legal services organization that advocates for the rights of the LGBT community, is a Justice at Stake partner organization.
• The Texas Legislature is currently considering raising the salaries of state district judges by $26,909. The Texas Tribune reports that judicial salaries are connected to pensions for state lawmakers, and any increase in wages would substantially increase pensions by the same percentage.

In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leaders, Justice at Stake opposed on Thursday a proposed amendment to limit judicial review of immigration legislation and supported another, to create new federal judgeships.

The first amendment, by Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, would allow judicial review of the underlying immigration measure only in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and would only permit review regarding constitutional challenges to the law or its implementing regulations, Bert Brandenburg, JAS executive director, said in the letter.

“JAS has long opposed political interference with the judiciary and thus, we oppose this attempt to constrain the venue and scope of judicial review,” Brandenburg wrote.

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GOP lawmakers continue to play politics with federal judicial nominees, bringing the confirmation process to a grinding halt, reports MSNBC. On Melissa Harris-Perry Saturday, the host and her guests discussed the problems that have led to a rise in judicial vacancies across the country.

According to the program, 40 percent of federal courts are now considered “judicial emergencies” because they have fallen so far behind in their workload without a full bench of judges.

A Longmont Times-Call editorial states that one vacancy in a Texas federal district court has been empty for more than 1,700 days. Another in Arizona has not been filled for more than 1,200 days.

The editorial, entitled “Get Federal Judges into Open Slots,” argues that ”lawmakers are playing politics with federal judicial nominees, which means important cases get delayed, courts are overloaded, nominees endure months of waiting in limbo, judicial integrity is compromised, and the American people get poor service from one the country’s three branches of government.” Read more

In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts:

• U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts advocated for better pay for federal judges early on at the high court, but he and his fellow justices chose not to take up a case concerning cost-of-living adjustments for judges in 2012, states the Washington Post. A case to increase the salaries of federal judges may still be on its way through the courts without any action from Roberts or his colleagues, the article says.
• Connecticut Judge Nina F. Elgo has been selected to receive the Edwin Archer Randolph Diversity Award by the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity, reports the Connecticut Law Tribune. Elgo became Connecticut’s first Asian Pacific judge in 2004, and the award has been given to individuals who are role models or pioneers for women and minorities in the law.
• In a case concerning San Antonio strip clubs, Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery wrote a decision that the Huffington Post is calling “one of the funniest, most eloquent court documents” ever seen. Biery’s ruling was full of double entendres, and NPR reports that Biery is known for inserting humor into his case opinions.

Campaign finance doesn’t rank as a hot issue for American voters, but there is nonetheless overwhelming popular support for banning super PACs, the committees that can engage in unlimited fundraising and spending on federal campaigns.

Those findings come from polls cited in a Washington Post blog post. Sixty-nine percent of Americans said in a poll last year that the super Political Action Committees should be prohibited, the article said.

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have sponsored a bill to require super PACs to identify their sources of money. In elections, voters “deserve to know where the money is coming from and where it’s going,” Wyden said.

At a Hill newspaper blog, Jonathan Backer of the Brennan Center for Justice said such bipartisan efforts suggest an easing in the “rigid partisan stalemate” on campaign finance disclosure. The Republican-controlled Texas state Senate recently approved a similar measure, he wrote. The Brennan Center is a Justice at Stake partner group. Read more

The U.S. Senate’s system for confirming federal judges is “breaking down” and having an impact in Texas, where six federal district court judgeships are vacant, reports a Houston Chronicle editorial.

The editorial urges homestate Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn to take a leading role in ending Senat gridlock over confirming nominated judges, and it chastises a system that it says it caught in “tit-for-tat” thinking:

“Tit-for-tat. It will always be part of Washington, but it has to end when it comes to the Senate’s advice and consent of judges. Voters should not be content with politicians who hold our judiciary hostage in a race to the bottom. About one in 10 seats in the federal judiciary is Read more