Across the Aisle, Trump Court-Packing Drives Call for Payback
Published in Courthouse News Service
Even in the absence of a large focus on judicial nominees so far in the primary campaign, advocacy groups are starting to line up nominees in the event that a Democrat wins the White House in 2020.
Leading the effort is the Alliance for Justice, which is aiming to gather enough potential nominees that the next Democratic president will be able to begin the process of filling seats on the courts on Day 1.
“Again, to give them credit, Donald Trump and the right wing prioritize judges, and it’s time for progressives to do the same,” Dan Goldberg, the legal director of the Alliance for Justice, said in an interview.
Goldberg said the goal of the Building the Bench initiative is to identify progressive lawyers who might not have submitted their names for consideration in previous administrations, relying on a host of groups on the left that will help identify candidates and encourage them to apply for judicial vacancies. Goldberg said the project is in its early stages, but aims to jumpstart the Democratic effort to fill out the courts.