FedSoc Executive Branch Review

The Federalist Society’s Annual Executive Branch Review is next week, Monday through Thursday, online. It’s free unless you need continuing education credits for the Wednesday session. There is a fee for the required CE materials.

There is no panel specifically on criminal law. We decided to separate the forthcoming “progressive prosecutor” panel to a stand-alone event. Stay tuned for details on that. However, there are a number of good programs on other topics of federalism and separation of powers on tap.

Thursday afternoon, there is is a panel on judicial nominations and confirmations, a matter of great interest to those who practice criminal law. The panel description follows the break:

Whenever control of the White House turns over to a different political party, as it did in 2009, 2017 and 2021, the new administration’s personnel and practices pertaining to judicial selection will differ. That is true of the Biden administration, but that administration is also subject to some novel kinds of political pressure. Some are calling for the President to expand the Supreme Court and the lower federal courts. In response, the President has established a commission to explore reforming the courts. At the same time, departing from the approach taken by President Clinton and President Obama, President Biden has said that he will not give the American Bar Association an advance role in vetting judicial nominees. The self-styled progressive group Demand Justice welcomed that announcement calling the ABA “another corporate dominated gatekeeper in the judicial process,” and stating, “it must not be allowed to act as an obstacle to diversifying the bench.” Finally, what will the Senate Judiciary Committee’s practice be with respect to blue slips?

Our panelists will discuss these and other developments regarding judicial selection. Among the questions to be addressed: What criteria will guide the Biden administration in selecting judicial nominees? How will the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate respond to efforts by individual Senators to utilize blue slips? How will Senators who, in the past, called ABA approval “the gold standard,” react if the ABA deems some Biden nominees “not qualified?” How should the executive branch interact with potential judges regarding the taking of senior status? What can we except from the Biden commission on judicial reform and when can we expect it?

That’s a knee-slapper that the ABA is now under attack from the left. Decades of faithfully biased service to the partisan cause of skewing our judiciary and law leftward, and that’s the thanks they get.

Here is the panel:

Hon. W. Neil Eggleston, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis; Former White House Counsel
Hon. C. Boyden Gray, Founding Partner, Boyden Gray & Associates
Ms. Carrie Severino, Chief Counsel and Policy Director, Judicial Crisis Network
Moderator: Hon. Andrew S. Oldham, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit