New Republic: Old World, Why isn't Obama appointing young judges to the circuit courts?

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Attention was understandably focused on Sonia Sotomayor this week, as her confirmation hearings unfolded. But what about Obama's other judicial nominees? The president has so far nominated five judges to federal circuit courts. On average, these nominees are 55 years old, more than a decade older than Sotomayor was when she was nominated to the Second Circuit. (She was 43.) For years, Republicans have been nominating sharp young conservatives to the lower federal courts. Now, rather than looking for young legal talent of its own, a Democratic administration seems to be favoring older nominees. In our view, this is a major mistake (empasis added).

The obvious reason is that federal judges, like Supreme Court justices, have life tenure--which means that younger judges serve longer on the bench and, all else being equal, have more influence over the law. (And the influence of circuit-court judges is considerable: Although the Supreme Court may be the last word on major constitutional issues, the lower courts matter just as much, if not more, in the administration of the law. This past year, the Supreme Court decided 83 cases, while the federal circuit courts disposed of 61,104.)

But the age of federal judges matters for another reason as well. Past administrations have placed their brightest young legal minds on the lower courts to give them judicial experience, making them stronger candidates for higher judicial office. These days, it has become a prerequisite for Supreme Court justices to have served on a circuit court. And if circuit nominees are not relatively young, then they will be too old for elevation to the high court by the time they have the necessary experience. The makeup of the Roberts Court illustrates this point: All nine justices served as circuit judges, and their average age when successfully nominated to the circuit courts was 44--eleven years younger than the average age of Obama's nominees. The youngest, Anthony Kennedy, was nominated at 38. The oldest, John Paul Stevens and David Souter, were nominated at only 50...

David Fontana is associate professor of law at George Washington University. Micah Schwartzman is associate professor of law at the University of Virginia.

Read the whole article here:
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=3cd8a28f-89bb-4854-aed0-76c57227929b

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1. Guys we need to spread this around, this is important.

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2. I agree, we need to balance this shit out

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3. They are 100% right, hell his most recent District appointee is 54, that is way old for that level

of the judiciary. Judge Irene Berger, West Virginia.

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4. kick!

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5. kickable