Government
Mar. 29, 2017
Little clarity in Trump's judicial appointments in California
Confusion abounds in the Trump administration's California judicial appointment process and it's unclear whom prospective applicants should contact to share their bona fides or learn more.
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Confusion abounds in the Trump administration's California judicial appointment process and it's unclear whom prospective applicants should contact to share their bona fides. When dealing with a state where both U.S. senators are in the opposition party, most administrations have created judicial appointment committees for each senator in each judicial district, made up of six members, three from each party.
Terry W. Bird, a principal at Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks, Lincenberg & Rhow PC who was appointed to retired Sen. Barbara Boxer's committee by George W. Bush, said it's unclear how the process will work under the Trump administration.
"If someone knows exactly how they're going to be doing this, it hasn't been communicated to most of us," he said.
Bird added that it's unclear whether there will even be a committee this time around.
"That may be one option but I've heard people argue that's not the approach that would be taken," he said.
In some past Republican administrations, California's Democratic senators were given veto power over judicial candidates, allowing them to whittle down the candidates list, but that process is grounded solely in Senate traditions and isn't mandated.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has pledged to continue utilizing this "blue slip" program, in which senators receive paperwork associated with a judicial candidate in their state and can choose whether to give their blessing.
A spokesperson for Grassley wrote in an email that senators could decide how to recommend judicial candidates and could set up committees if they wished.
It seems likely that the administration's effort to confirm 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court is occupying the attention of members of the executive branch who will be focused on vetting judicial candidates.
Makan Delrahim, one of the Trump administration attorneys guiding Gorsuch to confirmation, was reportedly working on identifying candidates for U.S. attorney positions and federal judgeships as well. Delrahim, a former shareholder at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP in Los Angeles, was named to head the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice.
Professor Carl W. Tobias of the University of Richmond School of Law agreed that, "The White House appears slow on lower courts but SCOTUS delayed them." He said that Trump would probably attempt to work with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, as she is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Bird said senators in the opposition party aren't involved in the process of selecting U.S. attorneys, but it can be time-consuming, historically, 10 to 12 months or more.
California's federal judicial vacancies are: one in the 9th Circuit, five positions in the Central District and one in the Southern District.
Representatives for Senators Kamala D. Harris and Feinstein did not respond to requests for comment.
joshua_sebold@dailyjournal.com
Joshua Seboldn
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