Jesse J Holland

January 05, 2006 | National Law Journal

Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito received a unanimous well-qualified rating from the American Bar Association on Wednesday, giving his nomination momentum as the Senate prepares for confirmation hearings next week. Chief Justice John Roberts also got that rating -- the ABA's highest -- before his nomination hearing, as did Alito back in 1990, when President Bush's father nominated him to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

By Jesse J. Holland

3 minute read

January 26, 2005 | Law.com

By Jesse J. Holland

3 minute read

January 12, 2006 | Law.com

By Jesse J. Holland

6 minute read

August 31, 2005 | Law.com

Senate Democrats said Tuesday's discovery of some unreleased documents from Supreme Court nominee John Roberts could make things tougher for him at his confirmation hearings next week. The National Archives announced a "large volume" of unreviewed and unreleased Roberts documents that had been filed under a code instead of Roberts' name. A member of the Senate Judiciary Committee said "there could well be a need for additional time to question the nominee" in light of the new documents.

By Jesse J. Holland

2 minute read

October 06, 2005 | National Law Journal

Conservative senators and others were questioning on Wednesday whether Harriet Miers was the best Supreme Court nominee a self-proclaimed conservative Republican president could find. "I guess they thought we'd all just say 'Whoopee!' but that's not the way it works around here anymore," said Trent Lott, R-Miss. The White House and congressional GOP leaders -- weakened partly by investigations of House and Senate majority leaders Tom DeLay and Bill Frist -- now find themselves defending Bush's decision.

By Jesse J. Holland

4 minute read

April 13, 2005 | Law.com

The National Right to Work Committee and the Gun Owners of America, two groups normally allied with Republicans, have bolted from the party's effort to ban judicial filibusters -- the first major defections from a conservative push to prevent Senate Democrats from blocking President Bush's judicial nominees. Despite GOP leaders' assurances to the contrary, both groups said they fear eliminating judicial filibusters could eventually lead to doing away with filibusters altogether.

By Jesse J. Holland

4 minute read

December 09, 2005 | National Law Journal

Senate Democrats on Thursday called for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito to provide them with more information about his time as a federal judge and a government lawyer, citing "questions that seem to have incomplete answers." The Congressional Black Caucus also announced Thursday that it would lobby the so-called Senate "Gang of 14" to oppose Alito's nomination because of what it called his hostility to discrimination cases.

By Jesse J. Holland

3 minute read

February 25, 2005 | Law.com

Both political parties are to blame for the impasse on confirming President Bush's judicial nominees, says Arlen Specter, Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Specter will initiate this year's confirmation battles between Bush and the Democrats by holding hearings next week on the nominations of former Interior Department Solicitor William Myers and U.S. District Judge Terrance Boyle. "No one wants to back down and no one wants to lose face," Specter said Thursday.

By Jesse J. Holland

4 minute read

May 24, 2001 | Law.com

Republicans won approval of Theodore Olson as the nation's solicitor general Thursday, hurrying to confirm him before losing Senate control to Democrats who remember him as the anti-Clinton lawyer who got Al Gore's recount stopped. Most Democrats had opposed Olson's nomination for weeks, but they agreed to let it come to a vote before the switch.

By Jesse J. Holland

4 minute read

July 17, 2001 | Law.com

Rep. Asa Hutchinson, President Bush's pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, declined Tuesday to commit the agency to vigorously enforcing the federal ban on medical marijuana. The question came up during the Arkansas Republican's confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Supreme Court ruled in May that a federal law classifying the drug as illegal includes no exception for medical uses.

By Jesse J. Holland

4 minute read