Check Out This Cool WH Infographic!

How boring are judicial confirmations to the general public?

It's amazing to me that Democrats continue to be stuck with horrible branding on issues of tremendous importance, like "the mandate," "entitlements," or "Harry Reid."

Still, they keep trying.

In yet another effort to spiff up the exciting "judicial confirmation crisis" the WH has released the above nearly impossible to read infographic (actually, you need to click on the image or click here to expand), which sets forth in neat flow charts how disastrous the current situation is with our federal judiciary.

Here's some of the rosy news:

Unfortunately, the delays these nominees are encountering on Capitol Hill are equally unprecedented: earlier this month, the Senate left for its August recess without considering 20 eminently qualified candidates, 16 of whom had passed through the bipartisan Senate Judiciary Committee completely unopposed, a development the Washington Post called “not only frustrating but also destructive” in an editorial published yesterday.

The victims of these delays, of course, are the American citizens who are being denied the fair and timely judicial proceedings they deserve because of the chronic shortage of federal judges on the bench.  Stephen Zack, president of the American Bar Association, told Senate leaders in a recent letter that the abundance of vacant federal judgeships “create strains that will inevitably reduce the quality of our justice system and erode public confidence in the ability of the courts to vindicate constitutional rights or render fair and timely decisions.”

I know I know -- your anecdotes about how slow things seem at the federal courthouse and one time you saw a judge leave work early trump all these stupid "statistics" and "data" so problem solved.

But question -- is there any reason to delay Judge Jordan's confirmation to the 11th?  Would it be good if he didn't make it?

If the answer is no maybe we should try to help accelerate this process.

Meaningful Things I Keep Near My Desk!

Reading this article on Steve Zack, I was struck by just how many things he keeps by his desk.

The list is diverse yet each item is pregnant with deep meaning:

Outgoing American Bar Association President Stephen Zack keeps a list of Buddhist sayings near his desk, as well as several silver gelding knives given to him by former clients.

Ok, Buddhist sayings and gelding knives.

Ying/yang, zen/warrior, got it.

What else?

To this day, Zack keeps a binder with Cuba's 1940 Constitution - first suspended by a 1952 coup and later thrown out after the 1959 revolution.

"I keep a copy near my desk to remind me that the words alone are not enough."

Hmm, evidently a smart and successful lawyer needs to make sure every item near her desk conveys an important message or signifies something that you want people to know about you.

It's like a bumper stick for your office!

So everyone please stop what you are doing (wasting time online) and take an inventory of the items in your immediate vicinity and see how you compare.

I'll go first:

1.  Framed photo of President Nixon and a drug-addled Elvis (or should that be the other way around)?

2.  Copy of deed for Chief Justice Rehnquist's Vermont home that contained restrictive covenant barring sale of property to "any member of the Hebrew race."

3. Gag gavel that makes farting noise (great for hearings!)

4.  Hand-made, partially-completed matchstick model of Peter Halmos' yacht (it's taken me seven years but I still intend to finish before the trial does).

Ok, your turn!

My Baby Steve Zack, He Wrote Me A Letter!

Not one to simply let Chief Judge Moreno hog all the spotlight, ABA Prez Steve Zack (captured mid-phone above) has jumped in with his own letter about all those darn federal judicial vacancies, and why can't the Senate just get along pre-recess and confirm a few of these folks so that whole system of laws thing doesn't break down, don'tcha know:

Thirty-eight of the present vacancies have existed for so long and created such untenable workloads for the remaining judges on the courts that the seats have been declared judicial emergencies by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. As lawyers who practice in federal courts across this nation, ABA members know firsthand that long-standing vacancies on courts with staggering caseloads impede access to the courts and create strains that will of the courts to vindicate constitutional rights or render fair and timely decisions. In Arizona, for example, the Speedy Trial Act has been temporarily waived, and criminal defendants wait up to 6 months for a trial, while businesses and individuals wait up to 2 years before their cases are heard.

So far so good (I mean bad).

But then Steve continues:

We realize that the aging of our federal judiciary has contributed to the growing vacancy crisis.

 Hey now!

Being the silver-tongued devil that he is, Steve politely refers to the nationwide decaying judge issue as "attrition":

According to Department of Justice estimates, 60 new vacancies will be created through attrition each year for the next decade. Obviously, progress toward reducing vacancies requires a confirmation rate that outpaces the attrition rate; at present, it is barely keeping abreast of it.

So I believe what Steve is saying is we either need to develop new methods of preserving and extending the lives of our aging federal judges -- perhaps through alien intervention, cloning, cryonics, or sophisticated and groundbreaking time-travel technologies that are currently beyond our scientific capabilities -- or we just need to confirm some of these nominees.

Hard to tell which is a more realistic and practical course of action given what's happening in DC at the moment.

Ernie Mullins Has a Question for Steve Zack!

Apparently tired of publishing my pal George L. Metcalfe's "Messages from Leesburg," the Florida Bar News has turned to Kissimmee lawyer Ernest J. Mullins for some fresh insights:

Here’s my question to Mr. Zack: “Hey Steve, when you were coming over here from Cuba, how many southbound rafts did you see?” Oh, and then there’s this: “We cannot fight to establish the rule of law around the world and watch it jeopardized in this country. When 80 percent of poor people, mostly women and minorities, have no access to the court system, we do not have the rule of law.”

Will somebody tell me what that even means? I go to court every day. I’ve been going to court every day for the last 25 years. I don’t know how many millionaires I’ve seen in there, but it’s not too many. When I go to court, I see mostly women, poor people, and minorities in there. Where is this 80 percent coming from? Is he kidding? Nobody, in 25 years, has said to me, “Gee, I tried to get into court on this, but they turned me away because I live below the povery (sic) level, and I’m a minority.”

Hmm, I only practice logic irregularly, but isn't this a classic argument by anecdote (there's also some argument by personal experience).

Here's what one smart guy said about this form of argument:

Argument by anecdote is when you prove a point with a story.  It is a very compelling argument, because people like stories about other people more than they like cold, hard facts.   Too often, though, the argument by anecdote is used when the facts are stacked heavily against a position.  If you don’t have the facts, tell a story.  People will believe the anecdote because it demonstrates what they themselves believe to be true.  That’s why you’ll find more arguments by anecdotes proffered by those on the losing end of the “facts” battle.

I did exactly 23 seconds of Google research, and came across this March 16, 2011 ABA publication, "The Growing Crisis of Underfunding State Courts," which has very few personal anecdotes but lots of pesky things called "facts":

The ABA’s Task Force on the Preservation of the Justice System, co-chaired by David Boies and Theodore B. Olson, has been investigating the under-reported but increasingly serious problems resulting from the underfunding of the nation’s courts. Today, as part of that on-going effort, we are releasing an informal survey of American Bar Association members that helps quantify the problems experienced by citizens and all persons seeking justice in jurisdictions around the country. The systematic underfunding of the country’s courts causes delays in court proceedings, loss of staff and reduction of services. It prevents court cases from being heard and leads to delayed justice.

So the ABA has a whole task force studying this issue -- who knew?

Another four seconds of research and I came across this, from October 2010, reporting on the results of the World Justice Project's new Rule of Law Index:

 [A] world-wide survey unveiled Thursday morning . . . ranks the United States lowest among 11 developed nations when it comes to providing access to justice to its citizens -- and lower than some third-world nations in some categories.

Particularly when it comes to access to and affordability of legal counsel in civil disputes, the U.S. ranks 20 out of the 35 nations surveyed, below not only developed nations but also such countries as Mexico, Croatia and the Dominican Republic.

The results are from the World Justice Project's new "Rule of Law Index", which assesses how laws are implemented and enforced in practice around the globe. Countries are rated on such factors as whether government officials are accountable, whether legal institutions protect fundamental rights, and how ordinary people fare in the system. The index will expand from 35 countries to 70 next year.

The lowest-ranking countries in this year's survey included Liberia, Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan.

The U.S. didn't lead the world on any of the rule-of-law measures, ranking near the bottom of the developed world on most -- including even fundamental rights. But the most striking findings related to access to justice for ordinary people.

So we beat Nigeria and Pakistan!

I'm glad things are ok at the local courthouse in Kissimmee.

But I guess it's everywhere else that people seem to be worried about.

I Propose That We Honor Steve Zack!

One thing I think the world could use right now, and everyone is pretty much in agreement with this, is more events honoring my buddy Steve Zack.

Did you know he's the new ABA President?

Oh I kid Steve, but seriously there is DEFCON 1 food truck-level media saturation of his laudable ABA activities and we may want to look around and see if anyone else is doing anything of any interest whatsoever.

(silence)

No?

Ok, then we better just honor Steve again.