Act With Dispatch To Ease Federal Courts' Vacancy Burden

This article previously appeared onThe Philadelphia Inquirer

Recent attacks on judges and the courts by various candidates for office have at least raised the visibility of the role of the judiciary in American society. Unfortunately, the picture is not a promising one.

The reason for the pessimism stems not from overreaching judges or out-of-control courts, but instead from a government branch caught in the middle of a political tug-of-war threatening to stymie any action at all.

Judicial vacancies permeate court after court across the nation. According to the American Constitution Society, there are 86 vacancies on the federal bench, including 32 deemed "judicial emergencies," and this rate has hovered at alarming levels for more than two years now. In Pennsylvania, the picture is particularly grim, with six empty seats (two judicial emergencies) and not a single nominee.