Political Quotes

“four-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom William Gladstone said something we all have repeated many times: ``Justice delayed is justice denied.'' By that measure millions of Americans who rely on courts that are overworked and understaffed are being denied the justice they rightly deserve. With 1 out of every 10 Federal judgeships today vacant, Americans can no longer rely on fairness and speedy trials. More than one-half of the Nation's population lives in a part of the country that has been declared a judicial emergency--more than one-half. The high number of vacancies isn't due to a lack of qualified lawyers to take these jobs; it is due, instead, to blatant partisanship. I am going to lay out in a few minutes what is remarkable. President Obama's judicial nominees have waited on average four times longer to be confirmed than those nominated by the second George W. Bush. Even highly qualified nominees--nominees who are eventually confirmed unanimously or almost unanimously--routinely wait for months to be confirmed because of the delay tactics used by my Republican colleagues. Tomorrow we are going to consider highly qualified Caitlin Joan Halligan to be a DC circuit judge. She has been waiting more than 2 years to be confirmed. She was nominated for the second time to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. This is a court that was formed some 65 years ago.…”