He hated the 9th Circuit - he fixed it

When President Trump ticks off his accomplishments since taking office, he frequently mentions his aggressive makeover of a key sector of the federal judiciary — the circuit courts of appeal, where he has appointed 51 judges to lifetime jobs in three years.

In few places has the effect been felt more powerfully than in the sprawling 9th Circuit, which covers California and eight other states. Because of Trump’s success in filling vacancies, the San Francisco-based circuit, long dominated by Democratic appointees, has suddenly shifted to the right, with an even more pronounced tilt expected in the years ahead.

Trump has now named 10 judges to the 9th Circuit — more than one-third of its active judges — compared with seven appointed by President Obama over eight years.

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The 9th Circuit court has been dominated by Democratic appointees for decades. In 1978, a federal law created 10 new judgeships on the court, allowing President Carter to fill them all.

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To be sure, some of the new appointees to the 9th Circuit have quickly won the respect of their colleagues. But the rapid influx of so many judges — most without judicial experience — has put strains upon the court and stirred criticism among judges appointed by both Democratic and Republican presidents.

“Ten new people at once sends a shock wave through the system,” a 9th Circuit judge said.

[...]

The biggest change will come in controversial cases that test the constitutionality of laws and the legal ability of presidents to establish contentious new rules. The 9th Circuit is weighing challenges to Trump on a wide array of issues, from immigration to reproductive rights, and the rightward tilt is likely to make it easier for the president to prevail.

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Only two of the 9th Circuit appointees have prior judicial experience — Bridget S. Bade and Danielle Hunsaker. They also are the only women among the court’s new judges.

  LA Times

He put seven people on the country's largest appeals circuit who have no prior judicial experience. And one of them, Lawrence VanDyke was rated "not qualified" by the ABA.

Oh well, they don't need experience or qualification. They just have to know how Trump wants them to rule.

Judge Ryan D. Nelson rattled other members of the court when he suggested during a hearing in August that the 9th Circuit remove a respected San Francisco district judge, Edward M. Chen, from a case. The 9th Circuit rarely takes cases away from district judges and only in extreme situations.

Chen, a former ACLU lawyer, was serving as a federal magistrate when Obama elevated him to the district court. Nelson complained about him during a hearing on a case in which Chen imposed an injunction on a Trump plan to take away protected status from many immigrants.

“You can reverse Ed Chen from time to time, but to suggest from the bench that are you are going to reassign” a case is “off the reservation,” one longtime 9th Circuit judge said. “Ed is an extremely well respected judge.”

Not by the orange one who counts.

In rating VanDyke unqualified for the job, the ABA wrote: “Mr. VanDyke is arrogant, lazy, an ideologue, and lacking in knowledge of the day-to-day practice, including procedural rules.” VanDyke cried during his confirmation hearing when attempting to rebut criticism that he might be unfair to the LGBTQ community.

It worked for Kavanaugh.

Meet Ryan D. Nelson, newly appointed Appellate Court Justice

It’s not just that Mr. Nelson, an Idaho attorney, has leapfrogged over the U.S. District Court bench to garner President Trump’s lifetime appointment to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

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Mr. Nelson was confirmed by the full Senate on Oct. 11 by a vote of 51-44, with just one Democrat, Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, voting to confirm.

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Mr. Nelson has no prior experience as a judge, but he’s no stranger to traffic courts. Mr. Nelson has received at least 28 traffic citations over the past two decades, and was found or pleaded guilty in about two-thirds of those cases, paying more than $1,300 in fines, court records show—a far higher rate than most Idahoans and nationwide.

He’s gotten tickets for speeding, disobeying traffic lights and signs, illegal turns, seat-belt violations, not carrying proof of insurance, skipping an auto inspection and not registering his vehicle. He’s been cited on his boat as well. In some cases, he fought the law and the law lost.

  WSJ

Do not try this at home.

Retired Idaho Magistrate Judge Stephen J. Clark handled two tickets involving Mr. Nelson in 2010 and 2011, including one where Mr. Nelson was cited for going 77 mph in a 35 mph zone in Idaho Falls.

Said Judge Clark: “You hope the person who is wearing the robe is going to follow the law.”

Even if not, his citations might help him on the appellate court, said Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor: “Maybe he will bring a little bit of empathy to recidivists that come to the circuit.”

I'm not holding my breath.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The opposition party strikes again - Part 2

Yes, the Democratic Party is making itself obsolete. Just not fast enough.

In exchange for an adjournment until after the election, so his members up for re-election could go home and campaign, Schumer agreed to fast-track 15 more Trump appointees to the federal courts, further guaranteeing that the cancer of this administration* will metastasize over decades until a lot of us are dead, and until a lot of us won't be able to remember what the American government looked like before this president* was elected.

Among the new judges were Richard Sullivan (for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals), David Porter (for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals), and Ryan Nelson for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. All three have the Federalist Society stamp of approval, and a look at their records reveals why. Nelson has a long history as a corporate lawyer and as a political appointee in the Justice Department under C-Plus Augustus, in which capacity he argued against clean air laws and against environmental suits brought against mining companies.

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For his part, Porter is the truest of true believers, as the Alliance For Justice makes clear.

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Disturbingly, Porter is a contributor to the Center for Vision & Values, a conservative think tank that has advocated against LGBTQ rights and argued that the minimum wage is unconstitutional. With former Senator Rick Santorum, he founded the Pennsylvania Judicial Network, an organization which opposed the nomination of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

So, in exchange for allowing Heidi Heitkamp, and Joe Manchin, and Jon Tester to go home and campaign, Schumer has stuck the rest of us with these people forever.

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Schumer could have let his endangered incumbents go home to campaign and still thrown sand in the gears by employing senators who are not up for re-election until 2020.

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In addition, Schumer has shown absolutely no notion of how to read the room. Right now, for the first time in a long time, a huge number of people in Schumer's party are outraged on the subject of judges. (Usually, it's the Republican base that gets charged up over judges, and, I would add, look where it's got them.) This deal has to have killed at least some of the emotional momentum built up by the Kavanaugh confirmation battle. That none of the other Democratic senators—save, according to Burgess Everett, Senator Professor Warren—wanted to stay and fight is on all of them. But Schumer's leadership on this issue has been appalling.

[...]

Chuck Schumer is not a wartime consigliere. And he is not suited to these times; he's too close to Wall Street and deals like this make him look like the biggest sucker in two cordovans. At this point, I don't see a way for the Democrats to take the Senate.

  Charles P Pierce

Which makes the Schumer deal all the more egregious - a lose-lose.

Chuck Schumer ought to be done as a leader of the Democratic Party in this moment. Gold watch, a hearty handshake, a warm ovation, and off the stage with him.

And take Feinstein and Pelosi with you..

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.