A seat on the bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has been vacant for a year. That court hears appeals in trial court cases originating in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Puerto Rico and Maine.

Justice William Kayatta has been nominated to fill that vacancy, and he has the support of a large majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Maine’s Republican senators, and yet his confirmation has been stalled since April 19 – by Republicans.

According to Marge Baker, executive vice president of People for the American Way, which is a liberal advocacy group, if Kayatta is not confirmed before the Senate leaves for summer recess the seat will remain vacant for another year.

A pre-recess confirmation seems unlikely, since Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has already announced that Republicans will block all circuit court nominees — not just those in the First Circuit — until Election Day.

It’s a political move to block President Obama’s nominees, but it also potentially blocks defendants’ right — and expectation — to have their appeals heard. This routine move to block judicial appointments, which is seen in both parties, punishes defendants and plaintiffs more than it does political machines.

Like most cases heard in the First Circuit, the most recent Maine cases decided had nothing to do with politics.

In one, a lobsterman sued former Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner George LaPointe, who was appointed by Gov. Angus King in 1998 and replaced by Gov. Paul LePage appointee Norman Olsen in 2011, for what the lobsterman considered to be a violation of due process by Marine Resources employees.

The court ruled for the Department of Marine Resources.

In the second case, a chiropractor sued a former patient for defamation in Internet postings and the patient filed a motion to dismiss the case under Maine’s anti-SLAPP law, which is supposed to guard against frivolous lawsuits.

The court ruled it didn’t have jurisdiction to rule and remanded the case back to district court.

In the first instance, the case was resolved. In the second, the underlying case moved back to a lower court, a move that actually allowed it to move forward in the appropriate court.

In both cases, the defendants were served by having their cases heard. They’re fortunate, given the short-staffing on the court.

When the Senate blocks judicial nominees, it gums up the court process and leaves defendants waiting.

The courts in this country have a lot of work to do, and defendants have a constitutional right to be heard in those courtrooms. None of that can happen without judges.

That members of the Senate — no matter what their party affiliation — actively stand in the way of ensuring that judicial vacancies are filled, and filled quickly, is an unnecessary and – frankly – offensive interference of the legal process.

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On Wednesday, Museum L-A released an architectural drawing of what its renovated space in the former Camden Yarns Mill bordering Simard-Payne Memorial Park might look like.

It’s a modern space dedicated to preserving history.

A blend of old and new.

And, it’s beautiful.

The three-story building will overlook the park, the Androscoggin River and the Great Falls in the distance, with enough windows for visitors to enjoy the tremendous view.

The museum has already purchased the former mill and is now raising money for the renovation work.

Once done, there will be display space on the lower floors and function space on the top floor. Museum organizers hope to open the new space in 2015, making it a showplace for local artifacts collected over time.

This is a project of pride, and one that the Twin Cities can be enormously proud of. It’s good to see this dream become concrete.

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The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and the editorial board.