Senate Finally Moving on Judicial Nominee from Colorado (Updated)

The Denver Post reports that the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hear Raymond Moore's nomination today for the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. Moore, a Federal Public Defender, was first nominated by President Obama on November 14 to replace Judge Wiley Daniel; his nomination was resubmitted on January 3.

The slow pace of the judicial nomination and confirmation process, normally bogged down by partisanship, may have relented for Moore, who will be considered in the first group of confirmation hearings. According to Rebecca Love Kourlis, Executive Director of IAALS and co-chair of the advisory panel that recommends federal judicial candidates in Colorado to Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, Moore's work in private corporate practice, as well as on the prosecution and defense side, should give him an experiential balance that both parties can agree on. However, Kourlis and Russell Wheeler, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and an IAALS board member, both stressed that delays and partisan wrangling put stress on the court system; "Justice delayed is justice denied—for businesses, individual litigants and even governmental entities," said Kourlis. Even with Moore's potential confirmation and the bench again fully staffed, the U.S. District Court in Denver remains one of the busiest in the nation and is seeking additional judgeship approvals from Congress.

[Update: Click here to watch video from the hearing.]