Act with dispatch to ease federal courts' vacancy burden

By Timothy K. Lewis

Recent attacks on judges and the courts by various candidates for office have at least raised the visibility of the role of the judiciary in American society. Unfortunately, the picture is not a promising one.

The reason for the pessimism stems not from overreaching judges or out-of-control courts, but instead from a government branch caught in the middle of a political tug-of-war threatening to stymie any action at all.

Judicial vacancies permeate court after court across the nation. According to the American Constitution Society, there are 86 vacancies on the federal bench, including 32 deemed "judicial emergencies," and this rate has hovered at alarming levels for more than two years now. In Pennsylvania, the picture is particularly grim, with six empty seats (two judicial emergencies) and not a single nominee.

President Obama's recent recess appointments led Republicans in Congress to threaten to hold up any presidential appointments for any positions requiring Senate approval. This unprecedented obstruction isn't just some war of words; real Americans are feeling the impact.

While the Senate stalemate is the largest obstacle these days, the problem starts with individual senators themselves. Here in Pennsylvania, Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey need to recognize the urgency and propose nominees in a more timely manner, fulfilling their constitutional obligation to provide "advice and consent" to the president on judicial appointments.

For district court appointments in particular, senators submit names to the president, who assesses the candidates and nominates them if he deems them fit. So long as the senators do not submit names, the process cannot move forward - and the seats remain empty. Casey and Toomey have a good working relationship, and they have indicated that they are working on identifying appropriate judicial nominees. But it is long past time that they make this issue a higher priority. Consider:

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has four vacancies, including one that's more than 2½ years old with no nominee yet. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has two emergency status vacancies - open since March 2009 and April 2010, respectively - and no signs of a nominee for either seat.