WASHINGTON - By a 95-4 vote Tuesday the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Jay Moody as a U.S. district judge in the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Moody, 49, fills the post vacated by Judge Susan Webber Wright of Little Rock, who assumed senior status in August.
U.S. Sens. Mark Pryor, a Democrat, and John Boozman, a Republican, voted yes. The four no votes were Sens. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; James Risch, R-Idaho; Pat Roberts, R-Kansas;and Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
After repeated delays over the past few months, Pryor had asked the Senate to expedite the vote so Moody would know the result before the 2014 election filing period ends in Arkansas. He is a judge in Pulaski County who was up for re-election.
Filing began this week and ends at noon Monday; the nonpartisan judicial election is May 20.
President Barack Obama nominated Moody in late July, a choice backed by Arkansas’ two U.S. senators. The American Bar Association rated Moody as “well qualified” for the post and his nomination was recommended by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
With no visible opposition, Moody’s confirmation seemed secure.
But a Democratic rule change in the Senate in November made it more difficult for Republicans to filibuster nominations. Republicans denounced the change and stalled many judicial nominations. The nominations of Moody and eight others waiting for a final Senate vote were sent back to the White House because they failed to gain approval by the end of 2013. Rather than letting the nominations proceed, Republicans insisted that the process be repeated.
On the Senate floor Pryor again urged colleagues to support Moody.
“There’s no reason why Judge Moody [wasn’t] confirmed back in December. He should have been. But for the wrangling here in the Senate, but for the problems we’ve had in the Senate in the last several months, he would be a federal judge today, and he should be a federal judge today,” Pryor said Tuesday.
In an interview Tuesday, Boozman said Republicans are still angry about the rule change, but he said the majority of them voted for Moody anyway because he was such a good candidate.
“Some of the people that have been voting against judges because of the rule change actually crossed over and voted for him. To a large extent, it was this particular nominee,” Boozman said. “I think we’ll continue to have a backlash as a result of that [rule change] with the judicial nominations.”
Moody, who spent Tuesday at the Pulaski County Courthouse, said by phone Tuesday that he is “happy and relieved” that the Senate confirmed his nomination.
Moody said he was filling in for Circuit Judge Mackie Pierce on Tuesday while the Senate voted.
“I was watching CSPAN2” in Pierce’s office between divorce hearings, he said.
He said the staffs at the Department of Justice and the White House were extremely professional and courteous during the nearly year-long nomination and confirmation process.
“I’m deeply grateful to them for all of that,” he said.
The son of U.S. District Judge James Moody, Jay Moody graduated from the W.H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1989.
He has served as a Pulaski County circuit judge in the 6th Judicial District since 2003. Previously he worked at the Wright, Lindsey & Jennings law firm in Little Rock.
Moody’s father, a judge with senior status, has said he will resign his seat to comply with federal nepotism laws that prohibit family members from serving on the same court.
Moody said he does not know when he will be sworn in.
“I have to resign my position and Dad has to resign his before that can happen,” Moody said.
Arkansas has another pending nominee, Timothy Brooks of Fayetteville, who was nominated to fill a vacant U.S. district judgeship in the Western District of Arkansas. His nomination was not moved forward.
Boozman said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., seems committed to approving the pending nominees soon.
“We should be able to do it also in a timely fashion,” he said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/26/2014