NPR: Obama's Judicial Picks Languish In Senate (w/ audio)

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While Elena Kagan could serve on the Supreme Court for decades, there are about 100 vacancies for lower court judges who will similarly serve lifetime appointments. That's roughly one-eighth of the federal judiciary, and the lower court judges that President Obama appoints will collectively have a far greater impact on Americans than any single Supreme Court justice.

But so far, the Senate has confirmed only 37 of Obama's judicial nominees, a little more than half as many as during the same period of time under President Bush.

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) last week went to the Senate floor to beg for a confirmation vote on two nominees from her home state. James Wynn and Albert Diaz were both voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee six months ago for positions on the 4th Circuit Appeals Court. The vote for Wynn was 18-1; the vote for Diaz was unanimous.

"These fine men have the support of both myself and my colleague from North Carolina, Sen. Burr," Hagan said...

Lately, Republicans have been letting more judges through than they did in Obama's first year. But Nan Aron of the group Alliance for Justice says it's not enough.

She wants Democrats to get tough.

"If Republicans want to bring cots in and sleep overnight, so be it," Aron says. "But I think it's high time for Democratic leadership to schedule votes and start filling some of these vacancies around the nation."

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