Goodwin Liu Voted out of Senate Judiciary Committee for Third Time

The Senate Judiciary Committee recommended Goodwin Liu for a federal judgeship today for the third time, on a 10-8 party line vote.  The seat to which he has been nominated is considered a “judicial emergency.”

President Barack Obama originally nominated Liu to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on February 24, 2010, and the Senate Judiciary Committee first approved his nomination on May 13, 2010.  Liu’s nomination has languished for more than a year as some senators employed an unprecedented level of procedural tactics to slow down the confirmation of Obama’s nominees. Due to inaction and congressional recesses, Liu’s nomination was twice sent back to the White House, which renominated him both times. He was voted out of committee the second time on September 23, 2010.

Liu is an acclaimed scholar, teacher, and nationally recognized expert on constitutional and education law who currently serves as associate dean and professor of law at UC Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law. He enjoys bipartisan support and is widely supported by the civil and human rights community.

“If the Senate is committed to ensuring a fair and effectively functioning federal court system, it needs to act on Professor Liu’s nomination without any additional delay,” said Karen K. Narasaki, president and executive director of the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice. “There is a tremendous lack of diversity on the federal appellate bench. Professor Liu not only has the right intellect and temperament to be an outstanding judge, he would also be only one of two active Asian Pacific American federal appellate judges in the entire country and the only one in the Ninth Circuit, which includes California, Hawaii, and most of the west coast.”

The failure of the Senate to overcome the obstructionist tactics of the minority party during the last two years greatly increased the number of judicial vacancies on the federal courts.  There are currently 93 vacancies – 39 of which have been termed “judicial emergencies” by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts because they do not have enough judges to handle the caseload. A court with vacancies and increased workload means long delays for people seeking to enforce their rights or settle their legal disputes in court.