{"id":2426382,"date":"2025-04-23T10:18:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T14:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dc-courts-are-a-mess-because-leftist-judges-pick-their-peers\/"},"modified":"2025-04-23T10:24:47","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T14:24:47","slug":"dc-courts-are-a-mess-because-leftist-judges-pick-their-peers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dc-courts-are-a-mess-because-leftist-judges-pick-their-peers\/","title":{"rendered":"DC Courts Are A Mess Because Leftist Judges Pick Their Peers"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdc-courts-are-a-mess-because-leftist-judges-pick-their-peers%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2426382&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the controversial process of selecting judges in the District of Columbia, focusing on judges James Boasberg and Tanya Chutkan. It argues that the current system undermines the president&#8217;s authority by allowing sitting judges to help select nominees for judicial positions, creating a scenario where judges with possibly biased views can influence appointments.This system, initiated by Congress in 1973, eliminates the conventional nomination process where the president appoints judges following Senate confirmation. Rather, it requires judicial candidates to go through a Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC), which is made up of members appointed by local officials and includes judges selecting other judges. The article critiques this setup as inherently political and burdensome, contributing to vacancies in D.C.&#8217;s courts and raising constitutional concerns regarding presidential powers. It advocates for reverting to the original system where the president has the sole authority to nominate judicial candidates, arguing this would streamline the appointment process and enhance the judiciary&#8217;s effectiveness.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Should sitting judges &mdash; especially the controversial James Boasberg and Tanya Chutkan &mdash; be able to tell the president what other judges he can appoint? Of course not. But under the current system for selecting D.C.&rsquo;s local judges, that&rsquo;s exactly what happens.<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s bad enough that those challenging Trump administration policies have sought to bring their cases before D.C. federal judges like those mentioned above, who they believe will be inclined to rule against the administration &mdash; especially on hot button issues like <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2017\/10\/25\/dc-circuit-rules-noncitizens-constitutional-right-u-s-abortions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">abortion<\/a>, immigration, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/25\/a-third-of-all-dc-district-judges-were-not-born-in-united-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">government spending<\/a>, and trans-identifying <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/19\/biden-judge-blocking-the-militarys-trans-policy-donated-thousands-to-democrat-candidates-causes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">individuals<\/a> in the military, just to name a few. But what&rsquo;s worse is that those same judges have been empowered to help select other judges who are likely to have the same radically different (and sometimes dangerous) view of their judicial role &mdash; regardless of the wishes of the sitting president.<\/p>\n<p>Here&rsquo;s the backstory: For most of our nation&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/scholarship.law.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=2315&amp;context=lawreview#:~:text=The%20development%20of%20the%20District's,existence%20it%20was%20the%20only\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">history<\/a>, the president appointed District of Columbia judges via the familiar system outlined in the Constitution.&nbsp;When a vacancy occurred, the president would nominate a replacement and appoint that person once confirmed by the Senate.<\/p>\n<p>But starting in 1973 (and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/91st-congress\/senate-bill\/2601\/text\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">slightly before<\/a>), with the <a href=\"https:\/\/statehood.dc.gov\/page\/dc-governance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">advent<\/a> of D.C.&rsquo;s &ldquo;Home Rule,&rdquo; Congress radically altered not only the structure and jurisdiction of the district&rsquo;s courts but also the method by which their judges were selected. Congress ostensibly enacted these &ldquo;reforms&rdquo; to give local leaders a greater say in who sat on D.C.&rsquo;s newly created courts and to make the process &ldquo;nonpartisan&rdquo; and &ldquo;apolitical.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>But we know that selecting judges is an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-comptroller-of-the-currency-nominee-declares-war-on-fossil-fuels-go-bankrupt-to-tackle-climate-change\/\" title=\"Biden\u2019s Comptroller of the Currency Nominee Declares War on Fossil Fuels: \u2018Go Bankrupt\u2019 to \u2018Tackle Climate Change\u2019\">inherently political exercise<\/a>. And in practice, any impartial observer would have to admit that the current system has loaded the dice to make it impossible for any constitutionally conservative judge to make it onto the bench.<\/p>\n<p>In a constitutionally questionable move, Congress stripped the president of the ability to nominate his preferred candidate to take the bench.&nbsp;And instead, Congress created a system where anyone who wants to serve as a judge on D.C.&rsquo;s &ldquo;local&rdquo; courts must first apply to a statutorily mandated &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/jnc.dc.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Judicial Nominating Commission<\/a>.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The JNC is comprised of <a href=\"https:\/\/jnc.dc.gov\/page\/about-jnc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">seven members<\/a>, one of whom the president selects, while D.C.&rsquo;s mayor and D.C.&rsquo;s bar (itself an organ of D.C.&rsquo;s local courts) each select two members. D.C.&rsquo;s council selects one member too.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Even more bizarrely, the chief judge of the district&rsquo;s &ldquo;federal&rdquo; court appoints a sitting federal judge &ldquo;serving in the District&rdquo; to serve as the final member of the JNC.<\/p>\n<p>This means that these judges are selecting other judges!&nbsp;Of the applicants it reviews, the JNC must <a href=\"https:\/\/dccouncil.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Home-Rule-Act-2018-for-printing-9-13-182.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">select<\/a> three candidates to fill each vacancy and then forward those candidates&rsquo; names to the president.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But here&rsquo;s where things get even crazier: If the president refuses to nominate one of the three JNC-recommended individuals within 60 days of receiving their names, then the JNC itself can pick someone, nominate that person, and appoint (after Senate confirmation) that person to serve on the court.<\/p>\n<p>No wonder D.C. Circuit Court Judge Laurence Silberman (with agreement by D.C. Circuit Court Judge Greg Katsas) <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/volokh\/2022\/08\/04\/an-update-on-judge-silbermans-complaint-against-a-federal-judge-picking-other-federal-judges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">questioned<\/a> the propriety of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">sitting federal judges essentially picking<\/a> other judges. It&rsquo;s inherently political and an ethical quagmire. Moreover, it&rsquo;s forbidden by judicial ethics in other similar circumstances: For instance, federal judges cannot serve on a state&rsquo;s JNC to help select that state&rsquo;s judges because of the inherently political nature of that activity.&nbsp;And the same is true here.<\/p>\n<p>Though other judges have so far <a href=\"https:\/\/fingfx.thomsonreuters.com\/gfx\/legaldocs\/myvmnxoywpr\/DC-21-90051.J.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declined<\/a> to recommend disciplinary action against the individual federal judge selected to serve on D.C.&rsquo;s JNC, the selection system is clearly flawed &mdash; a fact seen in the dynamic among the current political players involved in the process (never mind that judges aren&rsquo;t supposed to be political players).<\/p>\n<p>Take, for instance, the fact that under the present system, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dcd.uscourts.gov\/content\/chief-judge-james-e-boasberg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chief Judge James Boasberg<\/a> gets to appoint the D.C. federal judge to sit on the JNC.&nbsp;And Judge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dcd.uscourts.gov\/content\/district-judge-tanya-s-chutkan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tanya Chutkan<\/a>, in fact, currently fills that role.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>President Trump has previously criticized both of those judges, and both have ruled against his administration for various actions.&nbsp;Chutkan even presided over one of the cases Special Counsel Jack Smith brought against Trump.&nbsp;As if that weren&rsquo;t enough, then-President Barack Obama, one of Trump&rsquo;s political and ideological opponents, appointed both to their current positions.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Should these judges really get to tell the current president what other judges he can appoint?&nbsp;Hardly. But under the current system, they can and do.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This problematic appointment system raises serious questions (among others) about whether it impinges on the president&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/constitution\/article-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Article II<\/a> appointment power.<\/p>\n<p>But even setting aside the constitutional concerns, the current system isn&rsquo;t working well as a practical matter.<\/p>\n<p>Unease about the system has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2024\/12\/24\/dc-judges-vacancies-senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">slowed<\/a> the confirmation process. This reality has left two <a href=\"https:\/\/jnc.dc.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/dc\/sites\/jnc\/page_content\/attachments\/DC_Courts_Vacancies_Nominations_Website_3_12_2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">vacancies<\/a> on D.C.&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/appeals-could-determine-whether-trump-pays-500-million-in-civil-judgments-as-president-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Appeals could determine whether Trump pays 0 million in civil judgments as president - Washington Examiner\">highest appellate court<\/a> and twelve vacancies on D.C.&rsquo;s trial court.&nbsp;By all accounts, the courts could <a href=\"https:\/\/dcwitness.org\/dc-courts-face-crisis-waiting-for-judicial-appointments-says-chief-judge-and-attorneys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">use the help<\/a> of these additional judges to move through the backlog of existing cases and the additional cases &mdash; often involving those accused of committing violent crimes &mdash; that will be brought. <\/p>\n<p>Fixing the broken D.C. judicial appointment process is straightforward: Replace it with the process that already exists for nominating, confirming, and appointing every Article III federal judge. The president &mdash; and the president alone &mdash; should get to select his preferred nominees.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Zack Smith is a senior legal fellow and manager of the Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy Program in The Heritage Foundation&rsquo;s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sitting judges shouldn&#8217;t dictate presidential judge appointments, yet that&#8217;s the current D.C. system<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2909,"featured_media":2426383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Copy-of-Untitled-2025-04-21T192443.060.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[53912,51984,53913,43116],"class_list":["post-2426382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dc-courts","tag-judicial-system","tag-leftist-judges","tag-political-bias"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Copy-of-Untitled-2025-04-21T192443.060.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2909"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2426382"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2426395,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2426382\/revisions\/2426395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2426383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2426382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2426382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2426382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}