In case some conservatives think that the recent decisions in the Schiavo case provide a good reason to engage in attacks against the judiciary, I think it’s worth noting that one hundred percent of the Reagan, Bush 41, and Bush 43 nominated judges who have reviewed the Schiavo case have voted against granting the relief the plaintiffs are seeking. [UPDATE: See below] That includes strong conservative judges such as Judge Carnes (on the original panel), Chief Judge Edmondson, Judge Birch, and Judge Pryor (all of whom voted against rehearing en banc). The only judges who voted in favor of federal court relief were a Clinton appointee (Judge Wilson, on the original panel) and a Ford appointee (Judge Tjoflat, at the rehearing stage).
UPDATE: Reader Jonathan Steinsapir properly points out that we don’t actually know the votes of each of the judges at the rehearing stage. While the press is reporting that the vote was 10-2, the order denying the petition for rehearing merely states that there was no majority of active judges in favor of granting rehearing and then contains two dissents from the denial of rehearing. It is possible that some judges voted in favor of rehearing but decided against writing or joining a dissent from the denial of rehearing en banc. My sense is that it’s not particularly likely in a case like this, but it is certainly possible.
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