Trump nominates new round of federal and district judges

by Josh Delk and Lydia Wheeler - 06/07/17 5:21 PM ET

President Trump announced 11 new appointments to high-profile courts on Wednesday, his fourth round of appointments to the judiciary during his young presidency. The nominations were met with conservative praise.

{mosads}

The list sent to the Senate for confirmation includes the nomination of Colorado Supreme Court Justice Allison Eid to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the post previously held by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Eid held her position on Colorado’s Supreme Court since 2006, and was also included on the president’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees presented to voters prior to the 2016 election.

Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network, complimented Trump’s latest round of judicial nominations, writing in the conservative National Review that “it’s a fantastic list, again drawing from his previous success from his Supreme Court list… many of the nominees are well known in the conservative legal movement…” Severino said that these nominations are a “major victory” for Americans concerned with constitutionalism in the judiciary.

Trump also nominated University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Stephanos Bibas for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The White House called Bibas “one of the nation’s leading experts in criminal law and procedure.” Also nominated is Ralph Erickson of North Dakota for the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Eid and Bibas are both listed by the conservative Federalist Society as “legal experts.”

Jonathan Alder, a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, stated “President Trump continues to put forward superlative judicial nominees with sterling credentials and impressive intellects.”

But Alliance For Justice, a liberal legal group, urged the Senate to scrutinize Trump’s latest nominees.

“President Trump’s judicial nominees thus far have had troubling records that raise serious concerns about their ability to act independently from the executive branch and to dispense equal justice to all, as well as whether they possess the requisite judicial temperament,” Nan Aron, the group’s president, said in a statement.

“Like Trump’s previous nominees, these nominees have the burden to show that they are qualified for lifetime appointments to the federal bench, especially since this White House continues to rely on ultraconservative special interest groups for its pool of judicial picks,” she said.

Because Eid was on Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court picks, Aron said she must have passed the litmus test regarding abortion rights and opposition to gun safety.

The new list of nominees comes a month after Trump released his first slate of 10 judicial nominees, which included two candidates he had previously floated for the Supreme Court – Joan Larsen and David Stras.

Three other Circuit Court nominees are also waiting confirmation.

Trump’s other nominations Wednesday included Michael Allen, Amanda Meredith and Joseph Toth to be judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; Dabney Friederich, Timothy Kelly and Trevor McFadden to be district judges on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; Stephen Schwartz to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and Claria Horn Boom to be a district judge on the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky.

Tags Donald Trump Supreme Court candidates Neil Gorsuch