Senator Feinstein Urges President Bush to Consider Proposal to Break the Impasse Over Judicial Nominations

- Proposal Would Use California's Bipartisan
Selection Committee as Model -
May 6, 2003

Washington, DC- U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today urged President George W. Bush to consider her proposal, based largely on California's successful bipartisan judicial advisory committee, to break the stalemate over federal judicial nominations.

The California judicial advisory committee is comprised of four, six-member subcommittees and recommends candidates to fill federal district court vacancies in California's four federal districts. Each subcommittee includes one member selected by Senator Barbara Boxer, one selected by Senator Feinstein and one selected jointly by both Senators. Each subcommittees also includes three members who were named by Gerald Parsky, President Bush's State Chair for judicial appointments.

Senator Feinstein has proposed extending California's successful model nationally. Under the proposal:

• Each state would have an bipartisan committee (evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans) to recommend qualified candidates to fill Federal District and Circuit Court vacancies to the President;



• The President would choose nominees from this list of recommended names, but could request as many candidates as desired;

• The Senate would have six months from the President's nomination of a judge to hold a hearing on the nominee. Subsequent to the hearing, the Senate would hold an up-or-down vote in Committee or on the Floor within three months.



• Concurrent with these changes, the Senate would agree to allow nominees to go forward without secret holds or public filibusters.

In a letter to President Bush, Senator Feinstein wrote: "I believe the process for judicial nominations is going in the wrong direction. The debate between the Senate and the Executive Branch over judicial candidates has become polarized and increasingly bitter."

"Clearly, each side must be willing to compromise. Accordingly, I would like to make some recommendations for your consideration. I believe a model of bipartisan cooperation on judges already exists in the State of California."

Under the rules of California's selection committee, a candidate only can be recommended to the White House if he or she has support of the majority of the committee. For each vacancy, the committee forwards three to five candidates to the White House, and the President makes the final decision over which of these candidates is ultimately nominated.

Since the judicial selection committee was established in Spring 2001, eight California judges have obtained swift Senate confirmation. On average, the nominees have obtained confirmation within 114 days of being nominated. In contrast, California district court nominees in the 106^th Congress took an average of 223 days to get confirmed, and three of the nominees never received a hearing.

In addition, the California committee was effective in helping to quickly find qualified candidates for six new district judgeships that were authorized in November 2002. In the subsequent six months, the committee forwarded names of recommended candidates to the White House, and President Bush announced nominees for all the vacancies on May 1, 2003.

Senator Feinstein's letter continues: "The California system yields good results quickly....We have a limited window of opportunity before the current impasse over judges spirals out of control. I urge you to consider this proposal and help us find common ground. California's experience has shown how bipartisan cooperation can lead to the efficient selection of the highest caliber nominees."

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