Judiciary Watch

Pamela Harris confirmed to Fourth Circuit

The Senate on Monday confirmed Pamela Harris to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals with a 50-43 vote.  Last year’s Senate rules change, allowing a simple majority to end a filibuster, allowed Harris’ nomination to come to vote.  Harris, a 1990 graduate of Yale Law School, was a partner with O’Melveny and Meyers.

Earlier this month, the Senate confirmed the following judges:  John W. deGravelles, Middle District of Louisiana; Robin L. Rosenberg, Southern District of Florida; Andre Birotte, Jr., Central District of California; Julie E. Carnes, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals; Ronnie L. White, Eastern District of Missouri; Cheryl Ann Krause, Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Senate confirms four to federal courts in Florida and Vermont

The Senate this week confirmed four judges to federal courts in Florida and Vermont.  Geoffrey Crawford was confirmed to the U.S. District Court in Vermont.  He received his J.D. from Harvard in 1980 and was an Assocaite Justice on the Vermont Supreme Court prior to his appointment. Carlos Eduardo Mendoza and Paul G. Byron were confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.  Mendoza graduated West Virginia Univ. College of Law in 1997 and has been a Judge with the Seventh Judicial Circuit in Palatka, Florida since 2011.  Byron is a graudate of the Louisiana State Univ. Paul M. Hebert Law Center and has been in private practice in Orlando since 2005 with Overchuck & Byron.  Beth Bloom was confirmed to the U.S. Dsitrict Court for the Southern District of Florida.  She is a 1988 graduate of the Univ. of Miami School of Law and has been a Circuit Court Judge for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami since 2010.

Gayles, Yandle, and Mendoza confirmed to district courts

The Senate yesterday confirmed Salvador Mendoza, Jr., to be a U.S. District Judge in the Eastern District of Washington,  Staci Michelle Yandle, to the District Court for the Southern District of Illinois and Darrin P. Gayles  to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Gayles is a 1993 graduate of the George Washington Univ. Law School and has been a Circuit Judge in Miami Beach, Florida since 2011.  He is the first openly gay, black man to be confirmed to the federal bench.

Yandle received her J.D. from Vanderbilt Univ. School of Law in 1987 and has been litigating primarily personal injury, medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, and neglect and civil rights cases as a solo practitioner since 2007.

Mendoza received his J.D. from U.C.L.A. School of Law in 1997 and has been a Superior Court Judge in Kennewick, Washington since 2013.  Prior to taking the bench, he was President and Managing Attorney at Mendoza and Johnson, P.S.  He litigated approximately 75 criminal cases in state and federal court in his years in private practice.

Senate confirms three to District Courts

The Senate yesterday confirmed three judges to the federal bench: Hon. Leo T. Sorokin to the District of Massachusetts, Hon. M. Hannah Lauck to the Eastern District of Virginia, and Richard F. Boulware II to the District of Nevada.

Sorokin received his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1991 and has been a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Massachusetts since 2005.  Prior to taking the bench, he was an Assistant Federal Public Defender from 1997 to 2005.  Lawyers interviewed for the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary made the following comments about Sorokin:  “He’s an extremely sharp judge, extremely smart.”  “He has a perfect judicial temperament.”  “He’s very down to earth, reasonable and patient.”

Lauck is a 1991 graduate of Yale Law School and has been a Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of Virginia since 2005.  Prior to taking the bench, Lauck clerked for Hon. James R. Spencer, was an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1994 to 2004, and an attorney with Genworth Financial, Inc.

Boulware is a 2002 graduate of Columbia Law School.  He was a trial attorney with the Federal Defenders office in New York from 2003 to 2007, and then with the Federal Defenders office in Nevada since 2007.

Senate confirms three to federal bench

The Senate yesterday confirmed Tanya S. Chutkan to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Bruce Howe Hendricks to be U.S. District Judge for the District of South Carolina, and Mark G. Mastroianni to the District of Massachusetts.

Chutkan comes to the bench from Boies, Schiller & Flexner, where she has been a partner since 2007.  She graduated the Univ. of Pennsylvania Law School in 1987 and was with the Public Defender Service in the District of Columbia from 1991 to 2002.  Hendricks has been a federal Magistrate Judge in South Carolina since 2002 and prior to taking the bench was an Assistant U.S. Attorney.   Mastroianni was in private practice as a sole practitioner from 1995 to 2011, focusing his practice on criminal defense matters in State and Federal court. Most recently, he served as District Attorney for Hampden County, Massachusetts.

Senate confirms Barron to First Circuit

The Senate yesterday confirmed David H. Barron to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.  After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1994, Barron clerked for Hon. Stephen Reinhardt of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.  Barron spent most of his legal career at Harvard Law School, as a professor and Chair of the Electronic Communications Policy Task Force.  He was also with the D.O.J.’s Office of Legal Counsel, as an Attorney Advisor from 1996 to 1999 and Assistant Attorney General from 2009 to 2010.

Costa elevated to circuit court

The Senate this week confirmed Hon. Gregg J. Costa to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.  Costa was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in 2012.  Prior to taking the bench, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 2005 to 2012.  Costa is a 1999 graduate of the Univ. of Texas School of Law and clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William H. Rehnquist from 2001 to 2002.

Senate confirms 3 more to Arizona district court

The Senate confirmed three judges to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona on May 15, bringing the court to full capacity for the first time in three years.  The court, which has 13 authorized judgeships and had been operating with six vacancies, reported 9,777 new case filings in 2013 and has a large criminal caseload as a result of illegal immigration and drug smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Rosemary Márquez, who was confirmed by a vote of 81-15, fills a judgeship vacant since Hon. Frank R. Zapata took senior status in 2010.  Márquez  has been in a private practice since 2000 in Tucson. From 1996 to 2000, she served as an assistant federal public defender for  Arizona.  She received her B.A. from the Univ. of Arizona in 1990 and her J.D. from the Univ. of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law, in 1993.

Hon. Douglas L. Rayes is currently a judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court and was confirmed by a vote of 77-19. He was in private practice in Scottsdale from 1982 to 2000. Rayes received his B.S.E., summa cum laude, from Arizona State Univ. in 1975 and his J.D., cum laude, from ASU College of Law in 1978.

James A. Soto, presiding judge of the Santa Cruz County Superior Court, was confirmed by a vote of 95-1.  Soto was president and a shareholder of Soto, Coogan and Martin, P.C., in Nogales, Arizona, from 1992 to 2001.  He received his B.S. from Arizona State Univ. in 1971 and his J.D. from ASU College of Law in 1975.

Three confirmed to federal bench in Arizona

The Senate yesterday confirmed three nominees for the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.   Hon. Steven P. Logan has served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge on the Arizona federal court since 2012.  John J. Tuchi is a Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona.  Diane J. Humetewa, a member of the Hopi Indian Tribe, is the first female and only the third Native American to sit on the federal bench.  Humetewa is a former assistant U.S. Attorney and served as a special advisor on tribal relations to the president of Arizona State University at the time of her confirmation. 

Senate confirms Rosenbaum to 11th Circuit

The Senate Monday  confirmed Hon. Robin S. Rosenbaum to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.  Rosenbaum was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 2012 and prior to that served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for 5 years.  Rosenbaum clerked for Hon. Stanley Marcus of the 11th Circuit and was an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1998 to 2007.