Republicans have used filibusters to stop outright only two of Obama's judicial nominations: Caitlin Halligan, a former aide to Andrew Cuomo, nominated to the D.C. Circuit; and Goodwin Liu, a Berkeley law professor, nominated to the Ninth Circuit.
"They are not in the least bit comparable," said Lani Guinier, the Harvard Law School professor whose nomination as assistant attorney general for civil rights in 1993 was pummeled by conservative groups and eventually withdrawn by President Bill Clinton.
It reportedly asks for recipients to support Professor Dominic Shellard's nomination for an honour.
But some liberals are still disgruntled.Jonathan Turley, a law professor, calls the nomination "a terrible act of betrayal", because Ms Kagan is insufficiently protective of free speech (she supports restrictions on obscenity) and takes too expansive a view of executive power.
Mr. Shelby opened the second hearing in March with a ringing condemnation of Professor Diamond's nomination, arguing that he lacked relevant experience and that he favored efforts by the Fed to stimulate the economy that were opposed by Mr. Shelby and other Republicans.
Professor Rotunda's nomination needs Senate approval.
With Professor Pillard's nomination moving before the full Senate for confirmation, I urge my colleagues to thoughtfully consider her accomplished career.
But despite his outstanding qualifications and bipartisan support and the fact that the seat to which he has been nominated has been designated a "Judicial Emergency" by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Professor Liu's nomination has been pending for months.
On the Republican side, a former congressman, Richard A. Zimmer, is competing with Murray Sabrin, a Ramapo College finance professor, for the party nomination.
Yet the battle over judicial nominees may be taking an odd detour with the nomination of Professor McConnell.
BOSTON - Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard professor seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Senator Scott P. Brown of Massachusetts in November, announced Wednesday that she had raised $5.7 million in the last three months of 2011.
