Subject: Today from the Constitutional Responsibility Project
From: Sam Michel <[email-masked]>
To: Sam Michel <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2016 22:17:48 +0000

Today in the fight for a full and functioning Supreme Court: Senate leadership reaches milestone of obstruction in nomination process, former Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn says that Garland deserves a vote out of committee, while Senate Republicans continue to extend their judicial obstructionism to include lower court nominees.

Senator Grassley Reaches Milestone in Supreme Court Obstructionism
According to a release by Americans United for Change, today marks the 42nd day Judge Merrick Garland was nominated by the President to replace Justice Scalia. On average<https://public.tableau.com/shared/6JZTHNXKS?:display_count=no&:showVizHome=no>, U.S. Supreme Court nominees are called before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing inside of 42 days.

Brad Woodhouse, President, Americans United for Change: "Never before has the Senate shut down the entire nomination process around a Supreme Court vacancy because it was an election year. Grassley would have us believe that Presidents aren't elected for four year terms, but three years and a couple months.  While Senator Grassley clumsily defends his position that the last election didn't matter, the fact is<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/02/29/one-third-of-all-u-s-presidents-appointed-a-supreme-court-justice-in-an-election-year/> a third of all U.S. presidents appointed a Supreme Court justice during an election year. The longer there is a vacancy in the Supreme Court under Republican intransigence, the more dysfunction and uncertainty it invites for businesses and citizens alike."

Former GOP Senator: Senate Judiciary Committee should do its job and vote on Chief Judge Merrick Garland.
Today, former Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn said the Senate Judiciary Committee should meet with Chief Judge Garland and vote on whether to send his nomination to the full Senate. The New York Times<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/04/27/tom-coburn-ex-senator-says-merrick-garland-should-get-a-vote/?_r=0> reports:

"Despite once being among the most conservative members of the Senate, Mr. Coburn took pride in his ability to work with Democrats. He made it clear Wednesday that he believed Republicans were motivated by politics in refusing to consider Mr. Obama's pick to replace the conservative-leaning Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February."

Sen. Coburn (R-OK): ""If I was running things, I'd have had a vote and vote him down...The presidents have a right to have their nominees considered. And if it had been a Republican president, I'm sure they'd have been considering him."

Senate Republican leadership continues to block votes on judicial nominations - despite support from fellow Republicans
The Knoxville News Sentinel<http://www.knoxnews.com/news/politics/senate-democrats-tried-unsuccessfully-to-force-confirmation-vote-for-federal-judicial-nominees-31655-377146621.html> reports:

"U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Senate Democrats called for a vote on 11 noncontroversial nominees, including some who have been waiting for more than a year. Schumer charged the GOP has unnecessarily delayed the votes and has brought the judicial confirmation process to a standstill. Twenty nominees, including [Edward] Stanton, already have won the approval of the Senate Judiciary Committee and are awaiting a final vote on the Senate floor. 'We are urging our colleagues to do their jobs,' Schumer said from the Senate floor. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, objected to giving the nominees a vote, thwarting the Democrats' efforts."

President Ronald Reagan understood the importance of a full and functioning Supreme Court.
In a letter to the editor in the Abilene Reporter-News<http://www.reporternews.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/john-compere-letter-appoint-new-justice-now-316566e4-23b1-62f5-e053-0100007f911f-377179641.html>:

John Compere, Baird, Texas: "Republican President Ronald Reagan nominated Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and a Democratic majority Senate confirmed him during the 1988 presidential election year. Reagan told the American people filling the vacancy expeditiously was important because we must " ... fulfill our constitutional obligation of restoring the United States Supreme Court to full strength." This is an inconvenient historical truth for Republicans."

University of Chicago law student reflects on President Obama's visit
After President Obama visited the University of Chicago Law School to speak about the Supreme Court vacancy, first-year law student Luke Sperduto penned a post on Medium<https://medium.com/@WhiteHouse/when-professor-obama-spoke-to-our-law-school-d245a1117495#.5njoryku2>:

Luke Sperduto: "Obama the Professor acknowledged that while politics has always played a role in judicial decision-making, the judiciary has now fallen victim to broader trends towards partisan gridlock...Asked about the vision that guides his judicial nominations, the President praised judges who follow the law even when they disagree with it. ... Democracy can be frustrating, the President acknowledged, and our actions will always have consequences beyond our control."

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