WSJ Critical of Obama's Decision to Let ABA Rate Judges

The Wall Street Journal editorializes, "President Obama announced recently that he will restore the American Bar Association to pre-eminence in federal judicial vetting -- a privilege it lost under President Bush." The Journal adds, "According to the study by Richard Vining of the University of Georgia, Amy Steigerwalt of Georgia State University and Susan Smelcer at Emory University, the more conservative a nominee, the less likely he or she will receive a high ABA rating." Also, according to the Journal, "the ABA long ago became ideologically partisan, though it likes to hold on to the pretense of fairness and 'merit.'" Concluding, the paper says, "Mr. Obama's decision is a major victory for the lawyers guild, which draws prestige as the arbiter of qualifications for the career capstone of a judgeship. It's also hard to imagine the group doesn't feel a debt of gratitude to the President whose nominations it will now review."