Chief Justice Roberts to parties: Quit bickering, fill judicial vacancies

Chief justice urges progress naming judges (AP)
WASHINGTON – Republicans and Democrats must find a long-term solution to selecting Federal Judges, Chief Justice John Roberts says, while blaming both sides for the political gridlock of Judicial Nominations in the Senate. "Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of judicial nominations, depending on their changing political fortunes," Roberts said Friday in his year-end report. "This has created acute difficulties for some judicia...

Chief justice urges progress naming judges
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans and Democrats must find a long-term solution to selecting Federal Judges, Chief Justice John Roberts says, while blaming both sides for the political gridlock of Judicial Nominations in the Senate. “Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of judicial nominations, depending on their changing political fortunes,” Roberts said Friday in his year-end report. “This has created acute difficul...

Chief justice urges progress naming judges
WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats must find a long-term solution to selecting Federal Judges, Chief Justice John Roberts says, while blaming both sides for the political gridlock of Judicial Nominations in the Senate. "Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of judicial nominations, depending on their changing political fortunes," Roberts said Friday in his year-end report. "This has created acute difficulties for some judicial...

Chief justice urges progress naming judges
FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010 file picture, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts speaks during a lecture series at Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y. The Supreme Court will join Congress and the president next year in cutting costs to reduce the federal Deficit, Chief Justice John Roberts said Friday, Dec. 31, 2010 in his year-end report. Republicans and Democrats must find a long-term solution to selecting Federal Judges, Chief Justice John Roberts says, while blaming both side...

Roberts: Stop Blocking Judicial Nominees
Like this Story? Share it: History, traditions and key cases, plus what it takes to get on the bench. (AP) WASHINGTON - Republicans and Democrats must find a long-term solution to selecting Federal Judges, Chief Justice John Roberts says, while blaming both sides for the political blockage of Judicial Nominations in the Senate. There are more than 90 judicial vacancies in U.S. district and appellate courts. But only 60 nominees have been confirmed by the Senate for U.S. appellate and district c...

Chief Justice John Roberts Urges Progress Naming Judges, Takes Aim At Gridlock Obstructing Process
WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats must find a long-term solution to selecting Federal Judges, Chief Justice John Roberts says, while blaming both sides for the political gridlock of Judicial Nominations in the Senate. "Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of judicial nominations, depending on their changing political fortunes," Roberts said Friday in his year-end report. "This has created acute difficulties for some judicia...

Chief Justice Says 'Urgent' Need for Senate Action on Judicial Nominees
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts says there's an "urgent need" for the political parties to put aside their differences and quickly confirm more of President Obama nominees to the federal judiciary. "Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of Judicial Nominations depending on their changing political fortunes," Roberts said in a year-end report released on New Year's Eve. "This has created acute difficulties for some judiciary dist...

Chief Justice Roberts urges end of bickering over judicial nominees
WASHINGTON — There is an "urgent need" for Senate Democrats and Republicans to put aside their bickering and fill federal judicial vacancies, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote Friday in his annual State of the Judiciary report. It was his first comment about the partisan gridlock on judges that affects President Obama's nominees. Roberts noted that Democratic and Republican presidents have been frustrated by the "persistent problem" of senators from the opposing party blocking action on n...

Blaming both parties, Chief Justice Roberts decries judicial vacancies
Chief Justice John Roberts is blaming both parties for the political stalemate that's prevented dozens of federal judicial nominees from filling their seats at the bench.  In his annual State of the Judiciary report, Roberts said the partisan bickering has led to "acute difficulties" in "critically overworked districts." He urged policymakers to come up with a long-term solution to the perennial problem. "Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the ...

Chief Justice Roberts Blasts Lawmakers On Judicial Nominations
Citing the economic downturn as one of two "immediate obstacles" to improving the performance of the federal judiciary, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts also focuses part of his annual year-end report on the other problem he sees hampering the judicial branch: political intransigence in confirming Federal Judges. Roberts says the nomination and confirmation of federal judges has become a persistent problem. "Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to...

John Roberts: Stop Bickering, Confirm Federal Judges
Even John Roberts thinks the Republicans should stop blocking the approval of Federal Judges. He pretends it's a Bipartisan problem -- but it isn't: There is an "urgent need" for Senate Democrats and Republicans to put aside their bickering and fill federal judicial vacancies, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote Friday in his annual State of the Judiciary report. It was his first comment about the partisan gridlock on judges that affects President Obama's nominees. But Roberts noted that D...

Chief Justice Roberts Calls for End to Senate Obstruction of Judges
Nearly one in nine federal Judgeships are currently vacant, a vacancy rate that is leaving many courts barely able to function. Indeed, the problem has become so severe that Republican Chief Justice John Roberts used his annual year-end report on the federal judiciary to call upon the Senate to end this logjam: Over many years, however, a persistent problem has developed in the process of filling judicial vacancies. Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defe...

Chief Justice Roberts, a Bush appointee, urges approval of more Obama nominees
Today Chief Justice John Roberts, who was nominated and confirmed under the Bush Administration, urged the Senate to allow for confirmation of more judicial nominees.  Both Democrats and Republicans have used their Filibuster power over the previous decade to keep judicial nominees from being confirmed, though liberals claim that Republicans have taken the practice to a whole new level with President Obama.  In his statement, Chief Justice Roberts argues that the entire judicial system...

Chief Justice John Roberts issues yearly report on the state of the Judiciary
ABC News’ Ariane de Vogue reports: In his yearly report on the state of the Judiciary released at 6 pm on New Years Eve, Chief Justice John Roberts expresses concern that budgetary constraints due to the economic down turn and the "persistent problem" of judicial vacancies are hampering the work of the Judicial Conference to plan for the future. The Conference--the federal judiciary's policy-making body-- is made up of all the chief  judges of the Federal Court of appeal...

The Chief Justice on the President's State of the Union Address
Chief Justice Roberts has issued his 2010 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary. Among the topics the Chief Justice addresses is the "persistent problem . . . in the process of filling judicial vacancies," a problem that has "created acute difficulties for some judicial districts." The Chief deems the cause of the problem to be that "each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of Judicial Nominations, depending on their [sic] changing polit...

Chief Justice Decries Partisan Brawling
(NewsCore) - Chief Justice John Roberts decried the partisan warfare that has slowed the appointment of Federal Judges to a crawl, writing in his year-end report Friday that political gamesmanship on Capitol Hill has left some courts burdened with "extraordinary caseloads." "Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of Judicial Nominations, depending on their changing political fortunes," the chief justice wrote. He called on Congress and th...

Roberts Asks Senate to Confirm Judges
The New York Times reports: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. called on President Obama and the Senate on Friday to solve what he called “the persistent problem of judicial vacancies.” The plea, in the chief justice’s annual year-end report on the federal judiciary, was an echo of one from his predecessor, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who made front-page news on New Year’s Day in 1998 by criticizing the Senate for failing to move more quickly on President Bill Clinton’

Chief Justice Roberts calls for judicial confirmations
SCOTUS Chief Justice Roberts raised some eyebrows in The Village with his annual report that criticized the slow pace of judicial confirmations, noting only 62 out of 96 vacancies on the federal bench have been filled in the last two years. “There remains,” the chief justice wrote, “an urgent need for the political branches to find a long-term solution to this recurring problem.” Roberts' critique echoes a similar complaint made by former Chief Justice Rehnquist during the Clinton

Chief justice wants vacancies filled
WASHINGTON, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts says he wants Senate Republicans and Democrats to quickly fill the 94 vacancies in the federal judiciary. Roberts released his annual State of the Judiciary report Friday and said there is an "urgent" need for Senate Democrats and Republicans to put aside partisan bickering, The Washington Post reported. Roberts noted presidents from both parties have been frustrated by the "persistent problem" of senators from the opposing party blo...

Justice Roberts urges end to partisan fights blocking action on federal judges
Source: Washington Post There is an "urgent need" for Senate Democrats and Republicans to put aside their bickering and fill federal judicial vacancies, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote Friday in his annual State of the Judiciary report. It was his first comment about the partisan gridlock on judges that affects President Obama's nominees. But Roberts noted that Democratic and Republican presidents have been frustrated by the "persistent problem" of senators from the opposing party block...

Chief Justice Decries Brawling Over Judicial Nominees
WASHINGTON—Chief Justice John Roberts decried the partisan warfare that has slowed the appointment of Federal Judges to a crawl, writing in his year-end report Friday that political gamesmanship on Capitol Hill has left some courts burdened with "extraordinary caseloads." "Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of Judicial Nominations, depending on their changing political fortunes," the chief justice wrote. He called on Congress an...

Chief Justice Decries Brawling Over Judicial Nominees...
Please register to gain free access to WSJ tools. An account already exists for the Email Address entered. Forgot your username or Password? This service is temporary unavailable due to system maintenance. Please try again later. another account. Please enter a different username The Email Address you have entered is already in use. Please re-enter the email address. Why Register? Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for ...

Week in Review: Top News
Water from melting snow and rain creates a waterfall at the Lost Creek trail, about 8 miles into the scenic drive at Red Rock Canyon Conservation area. The waterfall is less than a half-mile hike from the Lost Creek Parking Lot. The hike is not difficult, but cold and wet weather can make the short walk more challenging because of ice. If the temperature remains cold long enough, the waterfall turns into ice. » Buy this photo The number of people the Flood Control District says have died fl...

StupidiNews, New Year's Weekend Edition!
Joe Miller has resolved to accept Sen. Lisa Murkowski's win as Alaska senator...for now. A University of Cincinnati Student resolved to go through Airport Security, stripped to his underwear, and had the Fourth Amendment written on his chest. Chief Justice John Roberts wants Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to resolve to fill dozens of vacant Federal Judge appointments. Estonia resolves to do the best it can joining the countries using the euro today. Japan resolves to warn parents not to...

Terry Newell: The Debt Tax
Don't look now, but Congress just raised your taxes. How can that be? Didn't they just approve a bill that will keep Bush-era Tax Cuts in place, lower the inheritance tax, and lower the Social Security tax for a year? Call it the "Debt tax." Whenever the Federal Government enacts a bill that it does not pay for, we go further into debt - in this case $900 billion. When you buy something you can't afford, you borrow the money and pay interest on what you borrow. The interest the government has ...