WASHINGTON, March 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to hear challenges to President Bush's recess appointment of William Pryor as a federal appeals court judge.
Though Pryor was the specific target of the challenges, the outcome would have affected all recess appointments of federal judges.
Justice John Paul Stevens wrote an opinion pointing out the rejection of review is not a decision on the merits of the challenge.
After Democrats delayed his confirmation in 2003, Bush appointed Pryor to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta while Congress was in recess in February 2004.
Unlike federal judges who are confirmed by the Senate and serve for life, recess appointments last only until the end of the next session of Congress.
About 300 such appointments, including 15 to the Supreme Court, have been made in U.S. history.
The constitutionality of Pryor's appointment was challenged in a case out of Georgia, then in a Florida case, but the challenges were rejected in the lower courts.
