Appeals court nominee fights show harsh ideological and partisan politics

Evidence

To his detractors, he was a racially insensitive right-wing ideologue whose “record as a trial judge [was] undistinguished and downright disturbing.” To his supporters, he was “a man of personal and professional integrity” committed to “obey[ing] existing law rather than usurp[ing] the legislature’s place.” About the only thing the two sides could agree on was that their opponents had gravely distorted the record of Charles Pickering, who was nominated for a seat on the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The tortuous course of the Pickering nomination illustrates the harsh ideological and partisan politics that, over the last decade, have characterized the selection of federal appeals court judges. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 512

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Appeals court appointment shifted from political patronage to ideological screening — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 471; Reagan screened judicial nominees for ideological conformity — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 479; Partisan and political weakness drives Supreme Court nominee rejections — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 543 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Ideology has replaced patronage in appeals court selection since recent decades #expands (0.88)
• Republican leaders pre-committed to blocking a potential Clinton Court nominee before the election #exemplifies (0.87) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 659
• Political selection fills the courts with judges holding established partisan views #expands (0.86) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2571
• Partisan judicial confirmation battles stem from structural features of the appointment process #expands (0.85) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 507
• Interest groups increasingly influence federal appeals court nominations #expands (0.84) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 514
• Partisan and political weakness drives Supreme Court nominee rejections #expands (0.82) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 543
• Presidents differ sharply in how much ideological screening they apply to judicial nominees #expands (0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 493
• Most appeals court judges were politically active in the appointing president’s party #exemplifies (0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 471
• Judicial nominees must satisfy both confirmability and ideological expectations #expands (0.78) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 361
• A nominee lacking a paper trail fails to satisfy ideological gatekeepers #exemplifies (0.76) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 364