As expected, President Bush has nominated L.A. business lawyer Milan Smith to the Ninth Circuit. Tuesday’s nomination means Bush has put forth nominees for the appeals court’s four open seats. The others are filibustered Idaho ranching and mining lobbyist William Myers, Idaho state court Judge N. Randy Smith, and Ssandra Ikuta, the general counsel for the California Resources Agency — and a former O’Melveny & Myers partner — who was nominated last week.
And Smith’s nomination continues a trend noted on this blog: Bush skipping the federal bench in filling slots on the Ninth.
— Justin Scheck
