Founder & President
Alliance for Justice (“AFJ”); Photo: AFJ.org
Carl Hulse reports for the NY Times:
. . . .
In addition to the candidates put forward by Mr. Feingold’s group after a nationwide effort, another coalition of organizations has provided the transition with over 100 names of candidates developed over the past several months.
“The process started earlier so we would be ready,” said Nan Aron, the president of the Alliance for Justice, which in cooperation with nearly three dozen other groups has given the Biden team a list of more than 100 potential nominees. “We are pushing hard for them to make judges a priority.”
. . . .
The progressives say that Democrats must use whatever leverage they can to press their nominees.
“Our view is the administration should push to make judges a critical part of the conversation,” Ms. Aron said. “The Democrats will need to fight for the judges they want.”
Though acknowledging winning confirmations will be difficult — certainly compared with the free hand Republicans have had when controlling both the White House and the Senate — Mr. Feingold said he was optimistic that Mr. Biden, using the available political tools and with strong progressive support, could get his picks on to the courts.
“I see opportunity here,” Mr. Feingold said.
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Thanks Nan! Read the rest of the article at the above link!
I just hope that this time around, unlike the Obama Administration, the Biden-Harris Team focuses on what former Senator Russ Feingold of the American Constitution Society might call a “golden opportunity” for broadening and improving the Federal Judiciary.
That’s, of course, the “judiciary” at the Executive Office for Immigration Review (“EOIR”) which operates (and I use this term loosely, given the disgraceful, deadly dysfunction sowed by the outgoing regime) entirely within the Executive Branch at the DOJ. No need to get Mitch McConnell’s sign off on these judges! (We ultimately need a fully independent Article Immigration Court, which will take legislation.)
Once A Symbol of Fairness, Due Process, & Best Practices, Now Gone “Belly Up”
The mess at EOIR needs immediate attention and aggressive due process reforms. This is no “small opportunity.” There are more than 500 Immigration Judgeships and another two dozen critically important Appellate Judgeships at the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) at stake here.
Together, this “under the radar administrative judiciary” exercises essentially life or death authority over millions of individuals and affects the lives and futures of millions more American families, employers, and communities from coast to coast. While most of the BIA’s decisions are reviewable in the Circuit Courts of Appeals, the BIA’s nationwide authority to set precedents and policies that determine not only the future of millions of humans, but also the conduct of DHS (which has been highly problematic) gives it power that in some ways exceeds that of any Federal Court short of the Supremes.
Sadly, the independence, expertise, and due process performance of EOIR has deteriorated steadily over the past three Administrations before going into a “death spiral” under the Trump/Miller/Sessions/Barr White Nationalist kakistocracy.
The exceptionally well qualified judicial candidates and competent legal administrators to fix the EOIR disaster are out here in the New Due Process Army. There is no area of judging that combines intellectual challenge, applied due process, human relations, practical problem solving, historical perspectives, ethical norms, and fundamental human values the way that the Immigration Court experience does!
A new, due process oriented, expert, diverse, representative immigration judiciary at EOIR will not only be a model for best practices for all levels of the Federal Judiciary, but will also provide an exceptional source of experienced candidates for the Article III Judiciary and future public policy positions (the massive failures in these areas over the past four years are an example of why we must do better if we want to save lives, promote equal justice for all, and enhance our democracy). As I always tell my Georgetown Law students, if you can win in Immigration Court, everything else you do in law will be a “piece of cake!”
This is more than just “an opportunity.” Human lives are at stake! National values and the future of the rule of law in America hang in the balance! This isn’t “optional,” nor is it a “back burner” issue! Reforming the Immigration Judiciary is a national imperative that we must insist upon!
Hey hey, ho ho, the EOIR Clown Show 🤡 has got to go! Let the Biden-Harris Team know!
Due Process Forever!⚖️🗽👍🏼
PWS
12-13-20