Jurist prudence.(Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been criticized by Chief Justice William Rehnquist for the failure to confirm federal judges)(Brief Article)(Editorial)

Nation, The, January, 1998

What could be a more satisfying spectacle than Chief Justice William Rehnquist's public knuckle-rapping of Senate Judiciary chairman Orrin Hatch? (What next--Jell-O wrestling between David Duke and Ralph Reed?) Hatch's excuses for stalling the confirmations of federal judges, a process assailed by Rehnquist in his year-end report on the federal court system, were about as convincing as a grade-schooler claiming the dog ate the homework. Taking this nonconfrontational President to task for appointing "activist judges," as Hatch did, is absurd--as of mid-1996, 182 of Clinton's 187 federal court nominees were approved without G.O.P. opposition. Even less convincing was Hatch's disingenuous claim that there are more federal judges now than at any time during the...

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