Trump, Feinstein and Harris absolutely have got to meet in the middle somewhere and get some Judges on the bench in California NOW

Politics
1

Yes, Republicans are 70% responsible for this situation, particularly given their atrocious behavior under Obama in shutting down the judicial confirmation process during his last two years.

However, Feinstein and Harris have not shown any great effort to meet Trump halfway on Judges in California. At least Schumer, Duckworth and other Senators in Democratic States have wrangled deals with Trump and gotten Judges on the bench.

But this is not the time to point fingers. Pointing fingers won’t get Judges on the bench and won’t get litigants cases to trial.

We can’t wait for “after Trump.” California, particularly the Eastern District of California, needs Judges NOW.

Judge Drozd’s new Standing Order for Civil Cases.

Judge Drozd’s new Standing Order for Criminal Cases.

The bottom line, if your are a civil plaintiff in the Fresno Division of the Eastern District of California, you are basically **** out of ******* luck. You ain’t getting your civil case heard now, maybe not ever. If you are a civil defendant, particularly a corporate defendant, you are ******* loving life. Many civil plaintiffs are people in bad financial shape, such as workplace accident victims, traffic accident victims, etc. They can’t wait what will be at a minimum 4 years and likely longer to go to trial. The defendant can strong arm a settlement at a fraction of the case’s value.

And if you are a CRIMINAL defendant, particularly in the Fresno Division of the Eastern District of California, you may just walk scot free from jail, if the Speedy Trial Act clock runs out on your case. Some defendants have already walked free for exactly that reason.

The Eastern District of California needs its judgeships to be doubled and it needs them filled now.

Civil justice is pretty much gone for the time being in Fresno. You may have a Constitutional right to a trial in a civil case, but you definitely aren’t getting one. You will be lucky to even have your case heard at all by bench trial. And crime victims just might see the perpetrators give them the middle finger as they walk out of jail due to the clock running out on the Speedy Trial Act.

Trump, Feinstein and Harris need to get together and find some ******* Judges NOW. If Schumer can do it, certainly Feinstein and Harris can do it.

The four judicial districts of California are in varying shape.

The Northern District of California is at full strength, with Obama filling 11 of its 14 Judgeships during his Presidency. However it needs 4 new Judgeships.

The Southern District of California has 5 vacancies among its 13 Judgeships. Additionally, it needs 4 new Judgeships.

The Central District of California has 9 vacancies among its 28 Judgeships. Additionally, it needs 9 new Judgeships.

The Eastern District of California has 2 vacancies among its 6 Judgeships. Additionally, it needs 5 new Judgeships.

Trump has not yet made any successful judicial appointments to United States District Courts in California to this point.

Trump, Feinstein and Harris better make something happen quick.

2

How about we nominate some judge who are not in the Federalist Society? Plenty of qualified people there if you expand your focus.

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It takes two to tango. Maybe Obama was only proposing judges who were too liberal for the Senate to stomach. Maybe he should have compromised more towards the constitutionalist end of the spectrum.

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Am I imagining things or has California really taken a bizarre turn in the realm of what historically was labeled…sanity?

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I thought Blue Slips were no longer a thing.

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Like who, for example?
Or maybe Mitch just wasn’t letting Obama get his appointments through no matter who they were.

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Maybe. Neither of us are mind readers. So definitive statement either way are not possible.

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The solution is to put the Magistrate Judges “on the wheel,” meaning that cases get assigned to them without the consent of the parties. That is already the case in several districts.

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That likely is about to happen in the Eastern District of California.

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To his credit, Trump has actually made deals in States like New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, etc, to “split” appointments by making a deal with the Democratic Senator to allocate a percentage of the vacancies to that Senators personal choice. Schumer himself has agreed to such deals. Those picks are whoever the Democratic Senator wants them to be.

Just need to get a similar deal done in California.

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The problem with that argument is that Trump ultimately renominated about a dozen of Obama’s nominees and those nominees were then confirmed. The problem was not the quality of Obama’s nominees. The problem was that the Republican Senate wanted to hold open as many seats as possible for Trump.

Yes, I did oppose about 20 of Obama’s nominees over the course of his Presidency, but the vast majority were acceptable.

In any event, we should not be overly concerned with judicial philosophy at the District Court level. Save that for the Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court.

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He specifically said he would not allow ANY nominations through.

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And now he’ll allow them all.

Imagine that…

The tides of politics.

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What stops Trump from making appointments?

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Like Merrick Garland.

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It has been my understanding that the Senators choose the judges. The judges proposed by the senators in that state are then normally approved. It worked that way for decades befor McConnell decided to block almost every judge. Including that’s like Texas where the have 2 Republican Senators
I have viewed this as McConnell doing this to get as many judges as he can under trump to create his legacy. It’s a very selfish thing he has done.

If both Senators approve of a judge they should get an up or down on the appointment and move on. After what McConnell has done to create this crisis I see no reason for Dem Senators to capitulate in their choices. If they can’t get approval for certain judgeships keep looking at find another.

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No. Unless the ruling is only going to apply in that district.

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This is a good point but i think Saf is correct. Theres a lot of cases that could be held up if the appointment isnt made.

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It wasn’t personal.

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Yeahhhhh it was personal for McConnel.