As far as federal judges are concerned, if they are so liberal then why did the GOP this year transfer class action lawsuits from the state to federal courts? The sponsors apparently believe that federal judges will be more sympathetic to business interests and less sympathetic to consumer activists.
And that's no surprise, since Republicans have controlled the White House for 24 of the last 36 years, and most of the federal judiciary was nominated by Republican presidents.
If we define "judicial activism" in operational terms, namely any attempt to stack the courts with justices who appear to match your political ideology, then it seems clear that Republicans have been much more successful in this pursuit than Democrats.
Here are the pertinent stats:
--Ninety-four of the 162 active judges now on the U.S. Court of Appeals were chosen by Republican presidents.
--On 10 of the 13 circuit courts, Republican appointees have a clear majority.
--Since 1976, at least seven of the nine seats on the U.S. Supreme Court have been filled by Republican appointees.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm..._judges18.html
Here are the circuit courts:
Code:
Circuit Where Dem Rep Bush nominees
D.C. Washington 4 5 3
1st Boston 2 4
2nd New York 7 6
3rd Philadelphia 6 7
4th Richmond 4 9 2
5th New Orleans 4 11 1
6th Cincinnati 6 6 4
7th Chicago 3 8
8th St. Louis 2 9
9th San Francisco 16 8 1
10th Denver 5 7
11th Atlanta 5 7 1
Federal Washington 4 8
http://www.independentjudiciary.com/
Quote:
Who appointed current judges
Nixon: 1
Ford: 1
Carter: 9
Reagan: 29
G.H.W. Bush: 29
Clinton: 59
G.W. Bush: 34
Total: 162
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