Dr. John Lott

Dr. John Lott of the American Enterprise Institute will be visiting Chapman next Wednesday to discuss his forthcoming book, Dumbing Down the Courts: Why the Confirmation Battles Keep on Becoming More Vicious and Which Nominees Face the Toughest Battles. Dr. Lott has previously spoken at Chapman about his book, More Guns, Less Crime. I had the chance to discuss Dr. Lott's new book with with him at the Federalist Society Conference this summer and Dumbing Down the Courts is sure to be as thought provoking as More Guns, Less Crime.

Here is an excerpt from the first chapter of the book:

Americans used to be blissfully unaware of the daily work of federal judges. But over the past five decades, it’s become almost impossible to escape the newspaper headlines and talk show debates about the delays, accusations, and attacks in the increasingly hostile confirmation process through which today’s judicial nominees (and the rest of country) have to suffer. Once confirmed, more and more decisions that judges make become front-page news, sparking a whole other round of fights.

Federal judges are appointed by the President of the United States. The appointments are made with the “advice and consent” of the United States Senate. That means the President nominates, and the Senate either confirms or turns down the nominations. The President is going to have to take this process into account in deciding whom to nominate in the first place.

From the first Supreme Court nomination in 1789 until 1950 -- the first 87 nominees -- the average confirmation (all the way from nomination to confirmation) took just over 11 days. From 1951 through 1976 the average increased to more than 50 days, and after that it rose to 68 days. Now it seems, even when the President and Senate are controlled by the same political party, the gap between those bodies is measured not in feet but in miles. The role of “advice and consent” has become a practice of “resist and refuse.”

WHO: Dr. John Lott
WHAT: Discussion of the Judicial Confirmation Process.
WHERE: Room 379
WHEN: Wednesday, October 12 at 12pm.