Douglas Alexander: “I will give one example of how this affects people in real time and real lives in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and…”

“I will give one example of how this affects people in real time and real lives in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan. Thirty-one assistant U.S. attorneys in the Eastern District of Michigan have written a letter to Senator Levin to complain that the vacancies have slowed justice, have complicated prosecutions, have enabled criminals to commit more crimes while awaiting trial, have led to less consistency in decisions, and have deprived the United States of en banc review in some cases. A group of law professors, in a letter to the majority leader, stated that because of the unfilled judicial vacancies, the Sixth Circuit takes as long as 15 months to reach a final disposition, 5 months more than the national average. This is unfair to the people in our State. I hope the Judiciary Committee will move swiftly to hearings and the Senate will move swiftly to consider, vote on, and hopefully confirm the Michigan four.”