Yo Holmes! The Tenth Circuit's Newest Member

How Appealing reports that the Senate has just confirmed Jerome A. Holmes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, by a vote of 67-30. The Tenth Circuit, a moderate and quasi-boring appellate court, hears appeals from six underpopulated states in the heart of flyover country.
So why is the Holmes confirmation newsworthy? For those of you who haven’t been following this story, Holmes is a highly respected, exceptionally well-credentialed attorney. Who happens to be extremely conservative. Who happens to be African-American. And who happens to be quite outspoken on a number of issues, including affirmative action — which he strongly opposes.
One of our Hill sources describes Holmes as “the next Clarence Thomas,” who has liberals running scared. Our source opines: “They [Senate Democrats] would have loved to have stopped the Holmes confirmation. But given his credentials, and the fact that he’s black, there was nothing they could do. [Sen. Arlen] Specter scheduled several hours of floor debate, basically daring the Democrats to speak out against him. This is a fight the Republicans wanted to pick.”
And in the end, it’s a fight that they won. We’ll be keeping an eye on Judge Holmes. At the young age of 45, he has at least a decade left of possible viability as a Supreme Court nominee.
The U.S. Senate has confirmed Jerome A. Holmes [How Appealing]

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