FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AG
THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1996                            (202) 616-2777
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888


    STATEMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL RENO ON JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Attorney General Janet Reno released the
following statement today regarding the status of judicial
nominations before the U.S. Senate:
     "On Tuesday of this week, the President announced his support
for a victims' rights amendment to our Constitution.  A principal
complaint of victims is that our system of justice moves too
slowly.  One step that we can take right now to address this
clearly valid concern is to fill the vacancies on the federal
bench.
 
     "So far, six months into the Second Session of the 104th
Congress, the Senate of the United States has confirmed not one of
the 43 judicial nominees at the Senate.  Simply by following the
process prescribed in the Constitution for the timely appointment
of well qualified men and women to fill judicial vacancies,
prosecutions can proceed expeditiously.  Vacancies, which have
grown dramatically this year, cause delays, and, as victims,
prosecutors, defendants and civil litigants will all confirm,
justice delayed is indeed justice denied.

     "The Administration has had an excellent and productive record
concerning judicial appointments, working first with Senator Biden
and then with Senator Hatch as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. 
Over three years we have filled 107 of 115 vacancies that existed
in the 847-seat Article III judiciary when President Clinton took
office and another 80 of the 121 vacancies that developed between
President Clinton's inauguration and the end of 1995.  One hundred
and eighty-seven appointments in all, garnering the highest ever
percentage of "well-qualified" ratings from the ABA. 

    "We entered the Second Session of the 104th Congress with 49
vacancies, with 26 nominees pending before the Judiciary Committee
and with high hopes that we would have another productive year and
further close the vacancy gap.  That has not happened.

     "Since the beginning of the Second Session of this Congress,
we have had four hearings before the Committee.  The Committee has
sent 17 nominees to the floor of the Senate, and none has been
confirmed.  If the six nominees who appeared at our fourth hearing
this past Tuesday are acted on favorably this morning by the
Committee, then we will have 23 nominees on the floor ready to be
confirmed.

     "Zero judicial nominations in this session of Congress is an
extremely discouraging record, particularly in comparison to
election year standards.  Contrary to popular belief, election
years have been very productive as far as judicial confirmations.

     "Indeed, in 1992, when President Bush was running for
reelection and Senator Biden was the Chairman of the Judiciary
Committee, the Senate confirmed 66 judges, more than one third of
all of President Bush's judicial appointments and more than in any
other year of his presidency.  As of this date in 1992, the Senate
had already confirmed 37 judges over half of those 66 appointments. 
     "In fact, in each election year since President Ford was in
office, the Senate has confirmed a large number of judges.  There
were 32 judges confirmed in 1976; 64 in 1980; 44 in 1984; and 42 in
1988.  Even if the Senate confirms all 17 nominees on the floor and
another dozen nominees currently before the Committee, the total
will still be the lowest for at least 20 years. 

     "These nominees are badly needed as judges on the courts to
which they have been nominated.  The vacancy gap has risen from 49
to 68 seats.  Twenty-six of the nation's 94 federal judicial
districts have "judicial emergency" vacancies  -- that is 
vacancies existing for 18 months or more -- and nominees for 20 of
those vacancies are pending at the Senate.

     "The solution is not to consider only a few nominees
acceptable to just one party.  I say to the Republican and
Democratic leadership alike -- we need the Senate to bring up for
a vote each of the nominees sent to it.  Let's move all of these
nominees, by unanimous consent if possible and if not by floor
debate.       "Under our Constitution the President and the Senate each have
discrete responsibilities in a non-partisan process to appoint
judges to fill vacancies in the federal judiciary -- the President
nominates and the Senate confirms.  The President has fulfilled his
responsibility with respect to the 43 pending nominations and will
continue to send up nominations.  The Judiciary Committee has done
part of its job with the favorable action on 17 nominees, and I
hope 6 more by the end of the morning.  But we need the Committee
to continue to hold hearings for pending nominees, and we need the
Senate to confirm all nominees sent to it.  Victims, indeed all
Americans, deserve no less."

96-306