D.C. Court of Appeals Judge Vanessa Ruiz, who has been aggressively pushed by a number of well-connected Democratic lawyers for promotion to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, is being taken to task for having an excessive backlog of undecided cases.
As part of a mandatory review before Ruiz could be reappointed to another 15-year term, the seven-member D.C. Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure wrote that her backlog was “the highest by far” of any appellate judge at the court. In the District, judges on the local bench — like federal judges — are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Unlike federal judges, they must be reappointed after serving 15 years.
