WASHINGTON -- Members of the Congressional Black Caucus expressed outrage at Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Wednesday for stalling Senate approval of two black judicial nominees that he had previously endorsed.
Rubio and fellow Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D) recommended Brian Davis and William Thomas last year to President Barack Obama to fill vacancies on two U.S. district courts in Florida. But the nominations have since stalled in the Senate because Rubio won't provide a "blue slip" to the Senate Judiciary Committee, a customary step that signals a senator's consent to proceed with nominees from his or her state. Without a blue slip, the committee chairman won't bring up a nominee.
Davis' nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida has now been pending for 505 days. Thomas' nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has been pending for 236 days. Both vacancies come at a time when the federal district court system is backlogged, struggling with a 10 percent judicial vacancy rate.
Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) said he has known Thomas since he was a child and can't figure out why Rubio isn't letting his nomination through. Both nominees have cleared Florida's Federal Judicial Nominating Commission, which vets nominees and makes recommendations to senators representing the state. Read our blog and Ana Maria Angel's blog (http://anamariaangel.blogspot.com/) and know why William Thomas should never practice law.
"I know this much: William Thomas was here before Marco Rubio's family came here," Hastings fumed during a press conference with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, or CBC. "It would seem to me that Marco Rubio could pick up the telephone and call me and ask me a little bit more about William Thomas if he needs to know something more about him."
So we tell Hastings to read our blog and see the blog for Ana Maria Angel and tell us how much more we all need to know about William Thomas and his rulings?
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) told The Huffington Post she's been trying to talk to Rubio directly, but can't get in touch with him.
"We're friends. We have been for a long time. I don't know what it is," Wilson said of Rubio. "So I say to you, Marco, 'We're depending on you. We're depending on you today. Why now? What is the holdup?'" Marco make the right decision - do not allow Judge Thomas to go to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Listen to the citizens of Miami Dade!
Article was taken verbatim from the Huffington Post : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/17/marco-rubio-judicial-nominees_n_3612624.html
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