Conservative Judges Changed Appeals Courts; Will Election Swing Pendulum?
Regardless of who is elected president of the United States next month, George W. Bush could continue to have a significant impact on the nation for years through his selection of federal appeals court judges.
“While a two-term president typically leaves his stamp on the appeals courts—Bill Clinton appointed 65 judges, Mr. Bush 61—Mr. Bush’s judges were among the youngest ever nominated and are poised to have an unusually strong impact,” reports the New York Times in a lengthy article about this presidential legacy.
Since, as the newspaper notes, the U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing only 75 or so cases annually, federal appeals judges are likely to have the final say on most issues.
Republican-appointed judges, many of them conservatives, are now in the majority in 10 of the 13 circuits, the article notes. Democrat-appointed judges have a narrowing majority in just one. And, although judges don’t necessarily follow their party’s political views when deciding cases, many observers agree that this change among the nation’s judges has had a significant effect on the direction of the federal courts.
That direction, however, could change, depending on what happens in November:
“An Obama victory could roll back the Republican advantage on the appeals courts and even create a Democratic majority by 2013, according to a study of potential upcoming vacancies by Russell Wheeler of the Brookings Institution,” the Times reports. “But if Mr. McCain wins, Republicans could achieve commanding majorities on all 13 circuits.”
