Michael McShane was confirmed today by voice vote to be a district court judge in Oregon — Obama's 5th out LGBT judicial nominee confirmed.
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) May 20, 2013
Chen was recommended to the Eastern District of New York by that state's senior U.S. Senator, Chuck Schumer.In a statement, Obama said, “I am proud to nominate this outstanding candidate to serve on the United States District Court bench. Pamela Chen has a long and distinguished record of service, and I am confident she will serve on the federal bench with distinction.”According to biographical information, Chen has been an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York for 14 years — with the exception of a four-month period in 2008 when she served as New York State Division of Human Rights’s Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement.As a U.S. attorney, Chen served has held different supervisory positions, including chief of the civil rights section and deputy chief of the public integrity section. She’s specialized in criminal civil rights matters, such as human trafficking, and has provided training to law enforcement on the issue.Prior to being a U.S. attorney, Chen was a trial attorney in the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Justice Department. She began her legal career in D.C., at the criminal defense firm of Asbill, Junkin, Myers & Buffone and at the law firm of Arnold & Porter after receiving her law degree in 1986 from the Georgetown University.A first-generation American, Chen’s parents came to the United States as immigrants from China and met in the United States at the University of Chicago during World War II.
Michael Fitzegerald becomes President Obama's 4th openly LGBT nominee to the federal judiciary |
This is great news. Someone should ask all the Republican presidential candidates whether they would nominate an openly LGBT person to a federal judgeship. President Obama has also nominated an out lesbian, Ali Nathan, to a federal judgeship as well. That nomination is now pending on the Senate floor.Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has been supporting the nomination, praised Oetken's background and experience on the Senate floor shortly before the vote, saying "His confirmation will only improve the workings of one of the best and one of the busiest courts in the country."
Of Oetken's place as the first, Schumer said, "At this moment, Paul is not just an excellent candidate, as the first openly gay man to be confirmed as a federal judge and to serve on the federal bench, he will be a symbol of how much we have achieved as a country in just the last few decades."
Before the vote began, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) -- the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee -- also announced that he would be voting for Oetken, who was born in Iowa.
When the vote did come, all Democrats voting approved the nomination, with Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) the sole Democrat not voting. Moreover, a majority of the Senate Republican caucus -- 28 members -- voted to approve the nomination, with 13 Republicans opposing the nomination and six members not voting.
The "no" votes came from Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). The Republicans not voting were Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and David Vitter (R-La.).
| Goodwin Liu testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee, which reported out his nomination to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals by a 10-8 vote |
The Liu debate extends far beyond Capitol Hill, as liberal and conservative groups see the nomination fight as a crucial test of the president’s ability to put his stamp on the nation’s judiciary.
Curt Levey, executive director of the conservative Committee for Justice, called Mr. Liu “the worst of Obama’s nominees at all levels of the federal courts.”
Nan Aron, president of the liberal Alliance for Justice, in contrast called Mr. Liu “one of the finest legal minds of his generation” who deserves a swift yes vote on the Senate floor.
Whether that vote happens, however, is uncertain. Democrats control only 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats — seven fewer than needed to guarantee an override of a Republican filibuster. A handful of moderate Democrats facing tough re-election battles also may be tempted to join a GOP filibuster of Mr. Liu.We shall see what happens but at least there are more than 18 months until the end of this Congress so time is on Liu's side.
J. Paul Oetken, an out gay attorney who worked at Jenner & Block and Debevoise & Plimpton, also spent substantial time in government, working in both the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and the White House under President Clinton. A former law clerk to the late Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, Oetken currently serves as the senior vice president and associate general counsel at Cablevision.
He was nominated, on Schumer's recommendation, for a judgeship on the Southern District of New York -- one of the key federal trial courts in the nation.
In Schumer's introduction of Oetken, the senator noted that, in addition to records of excellence and moderation, "I also look for candidates who bring diverse views and backgrounds to the bench. Paul is the first openly gay man to go through an Article III confirmation process in this country, which makes this moment historic. But long after today, what the history books will note about Paul is certain to be his achievements as a fair and brilliant judge."We'll be monitoring the progress of this nomination carefully. It is doubtful that one of the rabidly anti-gay Republican members of the United States Senate will skip this opportunity to curry favor with heterosexual supremacists and prevent an openly gay man from making history as a federal judge, even one as obviously well-qualified as Oetken.