Government
Aug. 3, 2002
Senate OKs Judge For Eastern District
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday unanimously confirmed Morrison Cohen England Jr. to serve a lifetime appointment as a federal judge in the Eastern District of California.
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday unanimously confirmed Morrison Cohen England Jr. to serve a lifetime appointment as a federal judge in the Eastern District of California.
England, 47, was nominated by President Bush on March 21 and had his confirmation hearing on June 13 for a designated "judicial emergency" seat on the Sacramento-based court. At the end of June, he was approved unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
England's nomination was among more than a dozen District Court nominees whose floor votes were held up for weeks because of partisan bickering over unrelated issues.
"I'm very happy that the confirmation did go through," England said Thursday.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., used the confirmation to reiterate her belief that the state's bipartisan judicial advisory committee is a success in spite of criticism that has flared since she set up the group with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Bush confidant Gerald Parsky, acting on the president's behalf.
"The fact that the Senate unanimously confirmed Morrison England demonstrates that California's Judicial Advisory Committee is working," Feinstein said in a statement expressing her pleasure at the outcome of the floor vote.
The respected African-American judge, who serves on the Sacramento Superior Court, received a "well qualified" rating from a majority of the American Bar Association's screening committee and was not considered a controversial nominee.
But he fielded some tough questions during his hearing about a difficult First Amendment case he presided over that pitted conservatives against the State Bar, Brosterhaus v. State Bar, CV527974 (Sacramento Super. Ct. Aug. 18, 1999), in a dispute over the group's political activities.
James Gordon Meek
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