Stalled Nominations for the Sixth Circuit

STALLED NOMINATIONS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

    Mr. McCONNELL. I thank the Chair.

    Mr. President, I thank the majority leader for outlining what is truly a crisis in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, the federal circuit which includes Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan.

    As this chart illustrates, of the 16 judgeships on the Sixth Circuit, 4 seats are vacant. They are all Michigan seats. They are being held up by the Michigan Senators, strangely enough, as the majority leader has outlined, based upon some grievance that occurred in the past. But the problem is not the past; it is the present. We have a judicial vacancy crisis in the Sixth Circuit that affects not only the State of Michigan but litigants in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio.

    If we look at the second chart, we will see what the effect is on litigants. Back in 1996, the Sixth Circuit had to handle about 364 cases per active judge. For 2002, it is up to 643 cases per active judge, an increase of 77 percent.

    The Sixth Circuit is essentially swamped with litigation, and justice is being denied by being delayed. It is the slowest circuit in the country. Sixth Circuit litigants have to wait on justice 50 percent longer than any other litigants in any other part of America just because they happen to be a litigant in the Sixth Judicial Circuit because of the action of the Michigan Senators in holding up all four of these well-qualified nominations to the Sixth Circuit. If you are so unfortunate as to be a litigant in the Sixth Circuit, you have to wait 50 percent longer than the national average to have your case dealt with.

    Senatorial prerogatives are important, but my recollection is Senators do not get to pick circuit judges in the first place. I guess we can have an argument about the blue slip policy as it relates to district judges, but we do not get to pick circuit judges; they are a Presidential prerogative.

    To simply withhold judges at the circuit level to secure nominations that the election does not give you an opportunity to achieve—in other words, the Republicans won the election in 2000—and, by doing that, dramatically disadvantage litigants not only in your own State but in three other States, seems to this Senator unfair.

    I guess the issue is what can be done about it. As the majority leader indicated and as I believe the senior Senator from Illinois indicated last week—the Senator from Illinois noted that there had not been any hearings on these nominees—my suggestion and the majority leader's suggestion to the chairman of the Judiciary committee, Senator Hatch, is to have hearings on these nominees. We have sent him a letter requesting that, because of the judicial emergencies in the Sixth Circuit, he go forward with hearings on these nominees.

    I hope Chairman HATCH will do that and the committee will forthwith act on these judges, send them to the floor, and let the Senate work its will because we have a crisis. My people in Kentucky did not have anything to do with this issue, and they ought not be penalized because of actions in some other State in the Sixth Judicial Circuit. I hope Senator Hatch, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, will hold these hearings in the very near future.

    Mr. FRIST. Will the Senator from Kentucky yield for a question?

    Mr. McCONNELL. I do yield for a question.

    Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask the Senator from Kentucky to share his concern as to the effect this particular delay of the Sixth Circuit nominees has on the people we serve every day and how their real lives are being affected. I think that is what drives us in moving forward, recognizing this delay is simply unacceptable.

    Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, if you are a litigant from Tennessee or Kentucky and are having to wait 50 percent longer than a litigant in some other State because of the actions by the Senators from Michigan, it seems to me that is simply unfair. Because of some grievance that occurred in the past, some score being settled by holding hostage these litigants from Tennessee and Kentucky who had nothing to do with this situation, I think is grossly unfair.

    One thing the majority leader has asked Senator Hatch to do that will help is have hearings, as has been suggested by the senior Senator from Illinois, and move forward on these nominations.

    Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I thank the Senator. That does bring into focus what we are here to do. For me, that brings into focus why, for us to be good stewards of the judiciary, we need to accelerate this process and move it forward. Indeed, that is what the Constitution calls upon us to do.

    Mr. President, how much time remains on this side?