Political Quotes

“I recently had the opportunity to convene a roundtable at the University of Baltimore School of Law entitled: ``Why Nine? A Discussion on the Importance of a Fully Functioning Supreme Court.'' I want to particularly thank the dean of the University of Baltimore Law School, Ronald Weich, for moderating this roundtable and bringing his extensive experience to this discussion. Ron Weich is well known here. He is the former chief counsel to Senate Minority Leader Reid and former Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Justice Department. I want to share with my colleagues some of the comments that were made by the people who were at that roundtable discussion. Caroline Frederickson, the president of the American Constitution Society, discussed the lengthy delays for trial and appellate court decisions. Lengthy delays in filling vacancies mean that justice delayed is justice denied. We have seen a growing number of judicial emergencies as a result of the Senate leadership's slow-walking of the consideration of judicial nominations, as I discussed recently on the floor of the Senate. One of these is my own State of Maryland's district court vacancy, in which Paula Xinis has been waiting for floor action now since she was reported out of the Judiciary Committee unanimously in September of 2015. She has waited over 7 months for action on the floor of the Senate. Ms.…”