Confirmation Wars: Preserving Independent Courts in Angry TimesIn Confirmation Wars, Benjamin Wittes rejects the parodies offered by both the Right and Left of the decline of the process by which the United States Senate confirms--or rejects--the president's nominees to the federal judiciary. He draws on original reporting and new historical research to provide a more accurate understanding of the current climate. He argues that the transformations the process has undergone should not be understood principally in partisan terms but as an institutional response on the part of the legislative branch to the growth of judicial power in the past five decades. While some change may have been inevitable, the increasing aggressiveness of the Senate's conception of its function poses significant challenges for maintaining independent courts over the long term. The problem, Wittes argues, lies both in the extortionate quality of modern confirmations, in which senators make their votes contingent on reassurance by the nominees about substantive areas of concern, and in the possibility that the breakdown of the confirmation process represents a far larger effort by the Senate to rein in judicial power. Wittes offers several strategies for managing the political conflict surrounding nominations, strategies that seek to protect the independence of the courts and the prerogative of the president to choose judges while maximizing the utility to democratic government of a Senate that takes its advice and consent role seriously. Most importantly, Wittes argues for ending the relatively new practice of having nominees testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Published in cooperation with the Hoover Institution. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
An Unsatisfying Debate | 15 |
The Transformation of Judicial Confirmations | 37 |
The Threat to Independent Courts | 87 |
Conclusion A Confirmation Process for Angry Times | 111 |
Acknowledgments | 131 |
Notes | 135 |
Index | 159 |
Other editions - View all
Confirmation Wars: Preserving Independent Courts in Angry Times Benjamin Wittes Limited preview - 2009 |
Confirmation Wars: Preserving Independent Courts in Angry Times Benjamin Wittes Limited preview - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
1st sess 2d sess abortion administration aggressive Amendment American answer appointment argue argument asked Associate Justice believe Bork Brandeis Brennan Breyer Brown Bush Bush's Carter chief justice Clarence Thomas Clinton Confirmation Mess confirmation process Cong Congress Congressional conservative Constitution Court Nominees D.C. Circuit decision Democrats dramatically Eastland Editorial Estrada example federal filibuster Fortas George H.W. Bush Ginsburg Harlan high court Hughes Ibid ideological ination inees institutional John Marshall Harlan judges judicial nominations judicial philosophy judicial power Judiciary United liberal lower-court nominations majority Marshall ment Miguel Estrada modern nomi nominee testimony nominee's norm opposing opposition Parker partisan party Peter Berkowitz political Potter Stewart President president's questions Reagan recess appointment refused Rehnquist Republican Roberts's Scalia segregationists Senate's Souter stare decisis Stewart substantive Sunstein Supreme Court nominations testified tion U.S. Court United States Senate views vote Warren Court Washington Post William Brennan