Trump Moves Quickly To Reshape Appeals Courts
D. S. Mitchell
Sounds pretty boring, talking about the US judicial system. But here goes, because what Trump is doing could change court decisions in this country for the next two plus generations.
There are 179 judgeships on the US courts of appeals as authorized. The judges are all nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. These positions have lifetime terms.
The US courts of appeals (Appellate Courts) are considered among the most powerful and influential courts in the country. It isn’t as glamorous as the Supreme Court, but these courts have the ability to set legal precedent that will affect millions of Americans. The courts of appeals have a significant influence on US law, because these courts review at least 60,000 cases annually and in most cases are the final arbiter on federal cases. The Supreme Court chooses to review less than 2% of the more than 7,000 cases that are filed annually with that court.
Important example of the Appellate Court is the 9th Circuit which is especially influential because its decisions cover 20% of the US population and an immense geographical area. The 9th circuit includes, AL, OR, WA, CA, ID, NV, MT, AZ, HI, GU and MP, (pink on the map).
The Republicans have a secret battle plan to fill the federal appeals courts with young and very conservative judges. The intent is to reshape the judiciary into an intensely conservative body. Trump has already appointed eight appellate judges.
There are many positions open due to an aging judiciary and positions that Republicans forced to be held open during the last two years of the Obama administration. Of the first 18 nominees, 15 are men, and 16 are white. Republicans are systematically filling judgeships with particularly conservative judges, mostly white men. These appointments to not reflect the face of America. We need to worry about the potential effect this packing of the court system will have on the future legal face of America.
Trump is said to have instructed McGahn to “prioritize appointing conservative judges who would be strong and could resist tremendous political and social pressure.” Social pressure is the key. Because the last 70 years of US law has been headed in a more inclusive, progressive direction. The Millenials and X’ers will soon out number the stodgy old white men now manipulating power in Washington DC, and they are scared to death, and will do anything necessary to stave off the future.
Trump said recently, “We will set records in terms of the number of judges.” He continued saying that there were “many more nominees in the pipeline.”
Most of the nominees are being recommended by two conservative groups, The Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation and then delivered to White House counsel, Donald McGahn II. According to the NY Times 11/12/2017, “many of the nominees are “extremists”–hostile to the rights of women, minority groups and workers, and unduly favorable to the wealthy.”
The Republican Party sees these nominees as “rock stars” who will interpret the Constitution according to conservative interests. The conservative legal movement began in the 1980’s as a backlash “in reaction to decades of liberal rulings on issues like the rights of criminal suspects and abortion.”
The appointment of a large number of new judges to the appeals court for life-time terms will reshape the legal interpretation of our everyday lives. I believe this issue is of great importance and I am even more motivated to encourage impeachment of Trump and Pence. The damage being done by Trump is immeasurable. We don’t have as much time as I originally thought. I believe, I am just one of the many, who feel an increasing urgency to overturn Trumpism before the United States slides into a dictatorship.
Calamity politics is a progressive on-line news magazine. Our agenda is to be a small voice for the Resistance. Join the Resistance.
Dar
**Special thanks to the NY Times Sunday 11-12-2017 for quotes noted in this article.**
Trump’s appointment of judges during his term–whatever long this may be–should be a cause of concern to all of us. This is arguably the only branch of government still working as it should to protect us. We need to be worried that an attorney, who has never been in court and has only three years or practice experience in his entire life, has been nominated as a judge. This is trump laughing at this institution. It is all a joke to him while we, Americans, are trying to build a better nation for all of us. Trump laughs in our face.
Right on.