Circuit breaker: if you're worried about conservative control of the federal judiciary, watch the District of Columbia.

CONSERVATIVES ARE ON THE VERGE OF CONTROLLING the second most powerful court in the United States. That's the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which has sent more judges--Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas--than any other to the current U.S. Supreme Court.

Because of its critical jurisdiction over federal regulatory matters, dominion of the court under the appointees of President George W. Bush is a uniquely unpleasant prospect for environmental groups, labor and other liberal constituencies. In fact, absent a new Supreme Court ...

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