New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez has defied the White House by blocking the President's judicial pick for a spot on the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, with the Senator's motives coming into question from all sides. President Obama had nominated U.S. Magistrate Patty Shwartz for the position, on a court just one step below the Supreme Court.  Senator Menendez, however, exercised his senatorial courtesy to block a nominee from his own state, as reported in Politico. Divining the reason for the Senator's action is where it gets interesting, as Ms. Shwartz is highly regarded in legal circles: Every lawyer in the world will tell you that she's extraordinarily qualified, a decent person and an excellent judge, and would be an asset to the circuit. The New York Times also reports that: ... the nominee, Patty Shwartz, has been in a relationship for more than two decades with the head of the public corruption unit for New Jersey's federal prosecutor. And that unit...(Read Full Post)