Fighting Radicals With Moderates
By Anderson makes a great point with respect to Michael Daly Hawkins, the 9CA judge who implicitly argued that if Vaughn Walker was planning to get married it would be reasonable to demand his recusal:
How on earth did Judge Hawkins get on the federal appellate bench with a mind like that?
… Oh, of course. Another Clinton nominee.
Clinton’s lack of interest in countering 12 years of hard-right judicial appointments is one of the blackest marks of his tenure — or if you don’t buy that, at least one of the longest-lasting black marks. We’ll be stuck with his “moderate” judges for years to come.
Which reminded me that Hawkins was the same guy who managed to get to Sam Alito’s right on an arbitrary strip search case, making arguments so preposterous John Yoo would struggle to repeat them with a straight face. And let us not forget the Clinton appointee who held the ACA unconstitutional.