Yesterday, the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Judge Chatigny's nomination to the Second Circuit. And let's just say that it didn't go so well for Chatigny. And it doesn't look like the Democrats were willing to get his back on this one.
I have previously discussed Chatigny's nomination and his role in the notorious Ross death penalty case (see here, here, and here). His confirmation hearing was delayed as a result of a letter complaining about his actions in the case. Despite the complaints, the Second Circuit publicly exonerated him of any misconduct. Nevertheless, it was clear that the case was something that had legs for the Republicans.
So it was not surprising to see the following headline in the New York Law Journal article about the hearing: "Dealth Penalty Case Dominates Chatigny Senate Confirmation Hearing." Here's the article (sorry it's subscription only).
This headline from the Legal Times blog post about the hearing is far more revealing: "GOP Senators Hammer Nominee on Death Penalty Case."
What's funny is that the same person who wrote this blog post is the same person who wrote the article that appears in the Law Journal. I know you'll have to take my word for this, but the article and the post are nearly identical. I guess the blog gave the writer some space to be slightly more open about what he thought about the hearing.
According to the writer, Chatigny "faced withering questioning" from several Republican Senators. And only one, I repeat one, Democratic Senator showed up, Senator Klobuchar. She is one of the most junior Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. I think that's telling. And even she questioned Chatigny about the case. Ugh. At least she did try to downplay its importance by pointing out that Chatigny had only been reversed 16 times in 450 cases. Not the greatest comeback in my book. Particularly since two (or was it three?) of those reversals happened in the Ross case itself.
So there certainly is a concern here that the Democrats aren't going to stand behind this nominee. They basically left him hanging out to dry at the hearing.
Of course, I could be misreading the politics of this. According to this article out of the Hartford Courant, Chatigny "is likely to receive a better reception before the full committee, which Democrats control, 12-7." Maybe the Democrats routinely don't show up at these hearings when they expect the nominee to get the required votes. And he does have the support of Senators Dodd and Lieberman, who introduced him at the hearing.
So let's see if the nomination gets out of the committee.
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