BLT:
Within hours of the announcement Thursday that President Bush was appointing Missouri Supreme Court Justice Stephen Limbaugh Jr. to a judgeship on the Eastern District of Missouri, questions arose in the media and in blogs like How Appealing. But it's not because the nominee is conservative broadcaster Rush Limbaugh's cousin.
The issue instead was that if confirmed, Limbaugh would serve on the same court with his father, senior judge Stephen Limbaugh -- an apparent violation of the law barring nepotism on the federal judiciary, 28 U.S.C. 458. That law forbids appointment or employment of anyone who is closer than a cousin to a judge -- even a senior judge -- on any federal court.
But in an interview with Legal Times this afternoon, the senior Judge Limbaugh seemed to end the kerfuffle before it spread. "The answer is simple," he said. "If my son is confirmed and sworn in, I am required to resign, and I will do so."
The father confessed to mixed feelings. "I'm in good health, carrying a full load, but I'm 80," he said. "But he has his career ahead of him." The senior judge added that he disagrees with the law as it applies to district court judges, since they, unlike appeals judges, operate independently and are not reviewing each other's opinions. "But Congress passes the law, and we go from there."
Though there have been legendary relatives on federal courts -- Learned Hand and cousin
Augustus on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, and brothers Morris and Richard Arnold the 8th Circuit -- the nepotism issue has not flared up significantly in more than a decade.
When President Bill Clinton named William Fletcher to the 9th Circuit in 1996, conservatives objected on nepotism grounds because his mother Betty was already a judge on the same court.
Ultimately, Betty Fletcher agreed to take senior status to smooth the path for her son, which was a permissible way out at the time. But after that flap, the law was amended in 1998 to cover relatives of senior judges as well.
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