Credit: railway fx/Shutterstock.com Is Senatorial Courtesy Unconstitutional?
Is single-senator veto of gubernatorial nominees a form of tyranny? Isn't it a judicial function to protect against that? It is time for new litigation to test whether this undemocratic practice should continue in our state.
September 04, 2022 at 10:00 AM
4 minute read
Constitutional Law
In the early 1990s when a senator invoked senatorial courtesy to block the governor's nomination of a superior court judge for reappointment, the attorney general sued contending the practice was unconstitutional. The trial judge dismissed the complaint as a nonjusticiable political question. That decision, on direct review, was upheld 3-3 by the Supreme Court. DeVesa v. Dorsey (1993). Ever since, senatorial courtesy has been used for both judicial and executive appointments, and is at least partially to blame for the current logjam in filling Supreme Court vacancies. The Senate refuses to act on its own to eliminate the practice.
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