Tomorrow’s scheduled hearing on Mike Wallace’s nomination to the Fifth Circuit has been postponed indefinitely. The reason, as I understand it, is that, in Chairman Specter’s (very reasonable) judgment, the ABA’s failure to provide the Judiciary Committee its report on Wallace and its failure to submit its testimony in a timely manner gave the Committee and Wallace an insufficient opportunity to prepare for the hearing.

The short-term result is unfair in that Wallace suffers delay as a result of the ABA’s failings. But there’s good reason to believe that the ABA will pay a price for stiffing Specter.