Preview

Introduction: Why the Senate Shuns the Smartest Judges

• Why Have the Battles Escalated Over Time?
• The Courts as Legislative Bodies
• Consensus as the Norm
• The Ever-Growing Role of the Federal Courts

1: The Battles Are Getting Worse

• Waiting to Be Judges: The Personal Costs

2: Supreme Battles

• How Nominations Have Changed
• Confirmation Traditions: Competence, Propriety, and Temperament
• Breaking with Convention
• Confirmations after Bork

3: The Fight over Lower Court Appointments

• Placing Blame
• Confirmation Delays
• Confirmation Rates
• Comparing Judicial and Cabinet Nominations

4: Who Has the Toughest Time Getting Confirmed?

• Factors that Predict Who Will Be Confirmed
• A Brief Overview: Ideology, Temperament, and Judicial Quality by Administration
• Increased Polarization
• Factors that Lengthen the Confirmation Process
• How the Characteristics of Individual Nominees Determine Confirmation Rates
• How the Characteristics of Individual Nominees Determine Supreme Court Confirmations
• Confirmation Battles over Cabinet Members

5: ABA Ratings: What Do They Really Measure?

• Determining ABA Scores for Judicial Nominees
• Circuit Court Nominees
• District Court Nominees
• ABA Scores and Judicial Influence

6: Increasing Tenure

Conclusion

• Appendix for Chapter 4
• Appendix for Chapter 5
• Data Appendix
• Bibliograph
• Notes
• Index