Even if Constitutionally Permissible, Are Judicial Recess Appointments Wise?
To say that a President has the power is not to say that its exercise is a good idea, constitutionally or otherwise. It seems as if recent Presidents have realized the dangers inherent in the overuse of judicial recess appointments. Since 1969, there have been only three recess appointments of judges made, counting Judge Pickering’s last week. (The other two appointments were made by President Carter and President Clinton. Carter’s appointee was never confirmed to a regular seat on the district court, while Clinton’s recess appointee to the Fourth Circuit, Roger Gregory, was later renominated by President Bush and confirmed to a regular seat on that court.) One reason for the modern reluctance to use judicial recess appointments may be an appreciation of the concerns over judicial independence discussed by Judge Norris in the Woodley case. When a recess judicial appointee is not someone whom the President wants to appoint permanently to the federal bench, but rather is simply someone s
