Government
May 31, 2001
Judicial-Selection Panel Wins Bipartisan Praise
LOS ANGELES - In a move that won bipartisan praise, a key Republican and California's two Democratic senators chose 24 lawyers from the region to sit on four panels that will select the president's federal district-court nominees for the state.
As part of the agreement, however, only the Republican-nominated members of each committee will be involved in the selection of the U.S. attorney and U.S. marshall for each district.
The judicial selection panels, announced jointly Tuesday by Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, include former U.S. attorneys and state appellate court judges from both parties.
Former state appellate Justice Elwood Lui will head the selection panel for the Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles. Former U.S. Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello will chair the Northern District subcommittee in San Francisco.
Charles Bell of Bell, McAndrews, Hiltachk & Davidian in Sacramento will chair the Eastern District subcommittee, and Meryl L. Young of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Irvine will head the Southern District subcommittee.
California has seven district judge vacancies: five in Los Angeles, one in Sacramento and one in San Francisco.
"It is my hope that this committee can bring forward the best and most-qualified candidates for the federal bench and provide a bipartisan balance that can lead to speedy approval by the Senate," Feinstein, California's senior senator, said in a prepared statement.
Feinstein sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which must approve all of Bush's judicial nominations.
Gerald L. Parsky, a Westside Los Angeles lawyer and investment banker who chaired Bush's California presidential campaign, will oversee all four subcommittees and have final say over which names get forwarded to the White House to be submitted for confirmation by the Senate.
"I am honored to have been asked to chair this vitally important process, which I believe will produce truly qualified people to serve as federal judges," Parsky said in a written statement. "I look forward to continuing the fine spirit of cooperation that has characterized my discussions with Senator Feinstein and Senator Boxer."
Eric George, a Beverly Hills lawyer, will serve as Parsky's deputy. George helped select state judges in California as a top aide to former Gov. Pete Wilson and, as counsel to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, worked on the confirmation process of President Clinton's federal judge nominees.
Last month, the Bush administration reached an agreement with the state's two Democratic senators to form the committee in an attempt to avoid the partisan rancor often associated with judicial selections. Since then, the balance of power has tipped toward the Democrats in the Senate, with Sen. Jim Jeffords leaving the Republican Party to be an independent.
University of Southern California law professor Erwin Chemerinsky praised the cooperation between the president and the two senators.
"I think, especially now that the Senate is controlled by Democrats, bipartisanship is essential," he said. "And I think the burden is especially on this group of people who are going to need to cooperate and come up with moderate nominees."
But not everyone was happy about the deal.
"I think we have shot ourselves in the foot, if not in the head," Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, head of the conservative Traditional Values Coalition in Orange County, said. "This process means we'll never get conservative judges, and that's absolutely ludicrous."
Susan Lerner of the Committee for Judicial Independence, a Los Angeles-based liberal group, called the committee formation "a fine first step."
"But," she said, "my concern is that it should not be the only way in which senators of diverse views have their opinions reflected."
"My concern, quite frankly," she said, "is it will be the only area where there will be true cooperation between the senators and the White House."
Lerner said she feared the White House would use its cooperation on the District Court level as an excuse not to seek impute from the senators.
According to the Boxer-Feinstein announcement, four subcommittees of six members each will select the judicial nominees from each of California's four federal districts.
Parsky selected three of each panel's members, including the chair of each subcommittee. Feinstein and Boxer selected one member each and chose a third member jointly.
The subcommittees will name three-to-five possible candidates for each judicial vacancy. A candidate must get four votes of the subcommittee before his or her name goes to Parsky for review.
"Making lifetime appointments to federal courts is one of the most important responsibilities of a president and a senator. I am pleased that we have agreed on a process to select district court judges," a statement from Boxer said. "It is my hope and expectation that our process will result in highly qualified, moderate judicial candidates who will serve California well."
Boxer, one of the more liberal members of the Senate, said repeatedly that she would attempt to block the confirmation of any Bush judicial nominee that she deemed too conservative. Last week, Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Newport Beach, who Bush was considering for a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, withdrew his name from consideration. He was facing objections by Boxer based on his opposition to abortion and other political beliefs.
The committees will not be involved in the selection of appellate judges. However, the three Republican-appointed members of each panel will help select U.S. attorneys and U.S. marshals in California, which are four-year appointments.
Lui, chair of the Central District subcommittee, is a partner at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Los Angles.
"I think this is a wonderful process that everybody has agreed to. I look forward to serving on the committee," Lui said.
The other members of the Central District panel are Holly Fujie, Joseph Cotchett, Wylie Aitken, Robert Bonner and Thomas Malcolm.
Fujie, Feinstein's appointee, is a partner at Buchalter, Nemer, Fields & Younger in Los Angeles and served on the Rampart Independent Investigation Panel.
Joseph Cotchett Jr., Boxer's appointee, is a partner at Cotchett, Pitre and Simon in Burlingame. He is a former member of the Board of Governors of the State Bar and the Commission on Judicial Performance, and he is the author of several trial books.
Aitken, whom both senators selected jointly, is an Orange County litigator and the past president of the California Trial Lawyers Association.
Bonner, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles, is a former U.S. attorney, federal judge and head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Malcolm is a partner at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Orange County.
Russoniello, chair of the Northern District panel, is a partner at Cooley Godward in San Francisco.
The other members of the Northern District panel are Michael Ohleyer, Angela Bradstreet, Louise Renne, Vigo "Chip" Nielsen and Eugene Lynch.
Ohleyer, named by Boxer, is a partner with Titchell, Maltzman, Mark and Ohleyer. He was a member of the San Francisco Assessment Appeals Board and served as chair of Boxer's judicial selection committee under President Clinton.
Bradstreet, a Feinstein appointee, is a partner at Carroll, Burdick and McDonough in San Francisco. She is a past president of the California Woman Lawyers Association and president-elect of the San Francisco Bar Association.
Renne, whom the senators selected jointly, has been San Francisco city attorney for nearly 16 years. Renne is a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Nielsen is a partner with Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Mueller & Naylor in San Francisco. Lynch is a retired U.S. district judge. Parsky selected both.
Young, chair of the Southern District panel, is previous co-chair of the Lawyer Representatives for the Southern District. She is on the executive committee for the 9th Circuit Judicial Conference and is past president of the Associate of Business Trial Lawyers in San Diego.
The other members of the Southern District subcommittee are Robert Fellmeth, David Casey, Beatrice Kemp, Lawrence Irving and John Davies.
Fellmeth, named by Boxer, is founder and director of Children's Advocacy Institute and Center for Public Interest Law. He is on the faculty of the University of San Diego School of Law and is a former state and federal prosecutor.
Casey, Feinstein's appointee, is a partner at Herman, Middleton, Casey and Kitchens and senior partner in Casey, Gerry, Reed and Schenk. He is an officer in the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and past president of the Consumer Attorneys of California.
Kemp, whom both senators selected, has been in private practice in San Diego for 25 years. He is a former state deputy attorney general and director of the California Association of Black Attorneys.
Irving, a former federal judge, is of-counsel to Butz Dunn DeSantis & Bringham in San Diego. Davies is of-counsel to Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Mallory in San Diego. Parsky selected both.
Besides Bell, the other members of the Eastern District panel are Nancy Miller, Marilyn Araki Eisenberg, Donald Fischbach, Lowell Carruth and Robert Puglia.
Miller, named by Feinstein, is a partner at Hyde, Miller, Owens and Trustin in Sacramento.
Eisenberg, named by Boxer, is a past member of the State Unemployment Insurance Compensation Appeals Board and chaired Boxer's judicial selection committee in Sacramento. A Japanese-American, she was placed in a relocation camp by the U.S. government during World War II.
Fischbach, the senators' joint selection, is a litigator at Baker, Manock and Jensen in Fresno. He was a judge pro-tem on the Superior Court in Fresno and is past president of the State Bar of California and Fresno Bar Association.
Carruth is a partner with McCormick, Barston, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth in Fresno. Puglia, a retired state appellate judge, is with McDonough, Holland, Schwartz & Allen in Sacramento.
David Houston
david_houston@dailyjournal.com
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