Senate panel OKs Smith judgeship

Fri., May 5, 2006

Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

BOISE – The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has approved President Bush’s nomination of an Idaho judge for a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but that may be as close as 6th District Judge Randy Smith gets.

Smith was passed out of committee Thursday on a 10-8 party-line vote but Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has vowed to block his nomination because she believes the seat should go to a judge from her state.

“I have no objection to Judge Randy Smith personally. However, I have significant reservations about the nomination of an Idahoan to a much-needed California seat on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals,” she told the committee, meeting in Washington, D.C.

Bush nominated Smith to replace Judge Stephen Trott, who moved to Idaho from California after his appointment to the court in 1988. Trott took senior status in December 2004, meaning he will take a much lightened caseload. Since then, Idaho has not had an active judge on the court.

Traditionally, judgeships remain in the same state.

“If Judge Smith were confirmed, California would retain only 13 of the 9th Circuit’s judgeships. Despite having more than two-thirds of the 9th Circuit’s cases, California would have less than half of its judges,” Feinstein said. The 9th Circuit has 28 judges.

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, has said the seat does belong to Idaho since Trott was based in Boise for the 17 years he was on the court. Both Craig and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, have promised to fight for a timely vote on the Senate floor.

“I have known Randy for a long time, and have always been impressed with his thoughtfulness, fairness, and integrity,” Craig said in a statement.

Crapo said Smith had the qualifications and experience needed for the job.

“Many issues that face Idahoans are decided on the 9th Circuit and I’m pleased to see an Idahoan with Randy’s capabilities fill this seat,” Crapo said in a statement. “I look forward to a full and prompt debate and vote on his nomination on the Senate floor.”

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., compared Smith’s nomination to that of Virginia resident Claude Allen, whom Bush nominated in 2003 to fill a Maryland vacancy on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Allen’s nomination, however, never made it out of committee and expired at the end of the 108th Congress.

“I remind senators that we recognized the validity of the objection of the senators from Maryland when the president tried to shift a Maryland 4th Circuit seat to Virginia,” Leahy said during the committee meeting. “We should do so again in this case in which the president is trying to take a California judgeship and turn it into an Idaho seat.”

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