Rocks and Shoals

THE FEDERAL NOMINATING COMMISSION appears to be on hiatus since early June when it announced its recommendations for the pending vacancy for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler and Madison attorney William Conley are finalists to replace retiring U.S. District Judge John Shabaz. President Barack Obama hasn’t yet filled that vacancy.

The commission also recommended Madison lawyers Stephen Meyer and David Jones as well as law professor Anuj Desai and La Crosse County Circuit Court Judge Ramona Gonzalez and Conley and Butler to replace U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb, who has decided to take senior status.

The names have been forwarded to U.S. Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold to make another recommendation to Obama.