Apparently Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy has already criticized Judge Robert Conrad, who President Bush has just nominated to an open seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The ACSBlog found and posted a statement of Leahy’s from 2005, raising concern about Conrad’s nomination to be a federal district court judge. Meanwhile, via How Appealing, comes news that the Fourth Circuit’s Judge Emery Widener has opted to take senior status. Judge Widener had previsouly expressed his intent to take senior status upon the confirmation of his successor, but he apparently got tired of waiting. More here on the South Carolina Appeallate Law Blog.