Political Quotes

“the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court has spoken out forcefully on the judicial vacancy crisis that is plaguing our Federal courts. He is correct that: ``Vacancies cannot remain at such high levels indefinitely without eroding the quality of justice that traditionally has been associated with the Federal judiciary.'' Partisan and narrow ideological efforts to impose political litmus tests on judicial nominees and shut down the judiciary have to stop. They hold no place, whether you have a Democrat as President or a Republican as President. The judiciary should not be part of a partisan or ideological power struggle. And I think that all of us as Senators in the most powerful democracy history has ever known have a stake in keeping an independent judiciary. Now, we begin 1998 still facing vacancies of about one out of every 10 judgeships. More than a third of these are what are called judicial emergencies. They have been empty for more than a year and a half. Unfortunately, during the last 3 years in the Senate, under the control of my friends across the aisle, the Senate has barely matched the 1-year total of judges confirmed in 1994 when we were on course to end the vacancy gap. In the 1996 session, the Senate confirmed only 17 judges, none for the Federal courts of appeals.”