[Senate Hearing 106-136]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 106-136
NOMINATIONS OF ERIC WASHINGTON, STEPHEN GLICKMAN, AND HIRAM PUIG-LUGO
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON THE
NOMINATIONS OF ERIC WASHINGTON AND STEPHEN GLICKMAN, TO BE ASSOCIATE
JUDGES OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS, AND HIRAM PUIG-
LUGO, TO BE ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SUPERIOR COURT
__________
APRIL 20, 1999
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Governmental Affairs
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
57-781 cc WASHINGTON : 1999
_______________________________________________________________________
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee, Chairman
WILLIAM V. ROTH, Jr., Delaware JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut
TED STEVENS, Alaska CARL LEVIN, Michigan
SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii
GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois
PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey
THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi MAX CLELAND, Georgia
ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania JOHN EDWARDS, North Carolina
JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire
Hannah S. Sistare, Staff Director and Counsel
Johanna L. Hardy, Counsel
Joyce A. Rechtschaffen, Minority Staff Director and Counsel
Peter A. Ludgin, Minority Professional Staff Member
Darla D. Cassell, Administrative Clerk
C O N T E N T S
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Opening statements:
Page
Senator Voinovich............................................ 1
WITNESSES
Tuesday, April 20, 1999
Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton, from the District of
Columbia....................................................... 2
Eric Washington, to be Associate Judge of the District of
Columbia Court of Appeals...................................... 3
Stephen Glickman, to be Associate Judge of the District of
Columbia Court of Appeals...................................... 3
Hiram Puig-Lugo, to be Associate Judge of the District of
Columbia Superior Court........................................ 4
Alphabetical List of Witnesses
Glickman, Stephen:
Testimony.................................................... 3
Biographical and professional information.................... 28
Holmes, Rep. Eleanor Holmes:
Testimony.................................................... 2
Puig-Lugo, Hiram:
Testimony.................................................... 4
Biographical and professional information.................... 60
Washington, Eric:
Testimony.................................................... 3
Biographical and professional information.................... 7
APPENDIX
Senator Paul Strauss, Shadow U.S. Senator Elected by the Voters
of the District of Columbia, prepared statement................ 5
NOMINATIONS OF ERIC WASHINGTON, STEPHEN GLICKMAN, AND HIRAM PUIG-LUGO
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TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 1999
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Governmental Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:30 a.m., in
room SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. George V.
Voinovich, Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government
Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia,
presiding.
Present: Senators Voinovich and Durbin.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR VOINOVICH
Senator Voinovich. The hearing will come to order. I would
like to welcome everyone here this morning, especially our
nominees, D.C. Superior Court Judge Eric Washington, Mr.
Stephen Glickman, who have been nominated to serve as Associate
Judges for the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and Mr.
Hiram Puig-Lugo--do I have that correct?
Mr. Puig-Lugo. Yes, sir, you do.
Senator Voinovich. That is like Voinovich. In fact, my
granddaughter just turned two and I was finding out whether or
not she can pronounce her last name. She still cannot.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Puig-Lugo has been nominated to serve as an Associate
Judge for the District of Columbia Superior Court.
Let me state for the record that all of our nominees have
been subjected to a very thorough screening process. They were
all recommended by the District's Judicial Nomination
Committee, subjected to FBI background investigations, and
subsequently nominated by the President of the United States.
Since the nominations were received, the Committee staff
has also conducted separate background checks and interviews
with each of the nominees. I thought maybe one other member of
the Committee would be here, but maybe they will come in a
little later.
We are pleased to have with us today District of Columbia
Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton. Eleanor and I have known
each other a long time. We still cannot figure out when we
first met, Eleanor, but it was a good occasion. She has done an
outstanding job of representing the District and I am pleased
that I am going to have an opportunity to work with you as part
of my responsibilities as Subcommittee Chairman here. Eleanor
has been gracious to come and introduce the candidates, and
Eleanor, we are pleased to have you here.
TESTIMONY OF ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Ms. Norton. Thank you, Senator. If I may say so, Mr.
Chairman, we are very pleased to see that this Committee is
chaired by a very distinguished former mayor of the City of
Cleveland.
I am particularly pleased this morning to introduce three
Washingtonians who have had outstanding careers and who have
rendered distinguished service to the law and to their
community, two for the city's Court of Appeals and one for the
D.C. Superior Court.
Judge Eric Washington is now an Associate Judge on the D.C.
Superior Court. Before becoming Judge, Judge Washington served
as the principal Deputy D.C. Corporation Counsel, which is the
position just below the Corporation Counsel for the District of
Columbia, the city's chief legal officer. He came there from
Hogan and Hartson, where he was a partner. He was earlier
associated with Fulbright and Jaworski. Judge Washington was
educated at Tufts and Columbia Law School. His community
activities have included work with the Boys and Girls Club. He
and his wife have three children.
Stephen Glickman is the managing partner in the law firm
here of Zuckerman, Spaeder, Goldstein, Taylor and Kolker. His
career includes 4 years of service on the staff of the D.C.
Public Defenders Service. He was also before that a staff
attorney with the Federal Trade Commission. Mr. Glickman is a
Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Cornell University and a 1973
graduate of Yale Law School. After graduating from law school,
he clerked on the Connecticut Supreme Court. His service to the
community has included board of directors of the Neighborhood
Legal Services Corporation. He and his wife have two children.
He is being nominated to the Court of Appeals, as well.
Nominated for the D.C. Superior Court is Hiram E. Puig-
Lugo. He is a trial attorney now with the Civil Rights
Division, Criminal Section, of the Justice Department. Mr.
Puig-Lugo has been before that Deputy Chief of the Trial
Division of the Public Defenders Service of this city, working
himself to that position from a trial attorney. Mr. Puig-Lugo
is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and in 1988 of its
law school. He has served as an instructor for judicial reform
in a project in El Salvador. He is co-editor of a D.C. practice
manual. His community activities have included the board of
directors of the Hispanic Bar Association. He has one son.
It is my very distinct pleasure to recommend these three
nominees to you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. Thank you very much.
If the nominees could please stand and if you will raise
your right hand, I would like to swear you in. Do you solemnly
swear or affirm that the testimony you will give to the
Committee today will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth, so help you, God?
Mr. Glickman. I do.
Judge Washington. I do.
Mr. Puig-Lugo. I do.
Senator Voinovich. Please be seated.
Welcome, Judge Washington. We are pleased to have you here
today. I understand that you are accompanied by members of your
family. Would you like to introduce them?
TESTIMONY OF HON. ERIC WASHINGTON,\1\ TO BE ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS
Judge Washington. I would. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With me
today is my wife, Sheryl, and my daughter, Erica, who is
representing the children in my family. Out of deference to
this Committee and my fellow nominees, I thought my 2-year-old
son probably should best not come today and my older daughter
had obligations in school. But Erica is here and I am very
pleased to have her here with my wife.
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\1\ The biographical information and questionnaire of Judge
Washington appears in the Appendix on page 7.
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Senator Voinovich. We are very happy to have you here
today. If you would like to make a statement, we would
appreciate it.
Judge Washington. With respect to the Committee, I wanted
to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for expeditiously scheduling these
hearings. I hear quite often from the judges on the Court of
Appeals how anxious they are to have new persons up there to
help them. They have been shorthanded. I want to thank your
staff especially. They have been very gracious and very
professional and have moved this process along and have been
very forthcoming and helpful in every respect. So I want to
thank the Committee and the Committee staff for this
opportunity.
I do want to say that I am humbled by the opportunity to
serve as an Associate Judge of the D.C. Court of Appeals. It is
a position that comes with enormous responsibilities and I am
looking forward to having an opportunity to work with my fellow
judges on that court and to hopefully make a difference in the
city. Thank you.
Senator Voinovich. Thank you. I appreciate the nice words
about the staff. I am learning as a new Senator that you are
only as good as the staff and they have been very, very
conscientious about moving us to this hearing today.
Mr. Glickman, we are glad to have you here today with us.
If you would like to introduce anyone from your family, we
would appreciate it.
TESTIMONY OF STEPHEN GLICKMAN,\2\ TO BE ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS
Mr. Glickman. Thank you. I would like to introduce my wife,
Ann Glickman, who has come here as a representative of our
family. I guess my kids are still in school.
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\2\ The biographical information and questionnaire of Judge
Glickman appears in the Appendix on page 28.
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Thank you for the courtesies that you and the staff have
shown me. I would like to second, if I may, my colleague's
remarks. The staff and yourself, Senator, have just been very
helpful to us in every regard and we are very appreciative.
Like Judge Washington, I, too, am thrilled and honored and
humbled by the opportunity that awaits me and I am looking
forward to it.
Senator Voinovich. Thank you.
Mr. Puig-Lugo, we are glad to have you here. If you would
like to make an opening statement or introduce anyone, we would
welcome it.
TESTIMONY OF HIRAM PUIG-LUGO,\1\ TO BE ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SUPERIOR COURT
Mr. Puig-Lugo. Thank you. Yes, sir. Good morning. It is an
honor for me to appear before you as a nominee to the Superior
Court of the District of Columbia. It was through the cases
that I handled in her courtrooms that I came to know,
appreciate, and value our community. I am excited and humbled
by the opportunity to join Superior Court in her mission of
serving the District of Columbia and her residents.
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\1\ The biographical information and questionnaire of Judge Puig-
Lugo appears in the Appendix on page 60.
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There are several people whom I would like to acknowledge
in the hearing room today who have been friends, supporters,
and mentors over the past few years. One of them is the Hon.
Ricardo Urbina of the United States District Court for the
District of Columbia, the Hon. Richard Roberts from the United
States District Court for the District of Columbia, Chief Judge
Eugene Hamilton from the Superior Court of the District of
Columbia, and Mari Carmen Aponte, formerly of the District of
Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission.
I would like to echo the comments of Judge Washington and
Mr. Glickman thanking you, Senator, and the Committee staff for
your assistance over the last few months.
Senator Voinovich. Thank you very much.
One of the things we have all learned in life is that, so
often, our success in life depends on people who have taken an
interest in this and have encouraged us and it is nice that you
have your mentors with you today.
Mr. Puig-Lugo. Thank you.
Senator Voinovich. As I mentioned to you, there are three
questions that I would like to ask of each of you. They are
required under the statute.
Judge Washington, I will start with you. First of all, is
there anything which you are aware of in your background which
might present a conflict of interest with the duties of the
office to which you have been nominated?
Judge Washington. No, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. Do you know of any reason, personal or
otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from fully and
honorably discharging the responsibilities of the office to
which you have been nominated?
Judge Washington. No, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. Do you know of any reason, personal or
otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from serving the
full term for the office to which you have been nominated?
Judge Washington. None that I am aware of, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. Mr. Glickman, is there anything of which
you are aware of in your background which might present a
conflict of interest with the duties of the office to which you
have been nominated?
Mr. Glickman. No, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. Do you know of any reason, personal or
otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from fully and
honorably discharging the responsibilities of the office to
which you have been nominated?
Mr. Glickman. No, I do not, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. Do you know of any reason, personal or
otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from serving the
full term for the office to which you have been nominated?
Mr. Glickman. No, I do not, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. Mr. Puig-Lugo, is there anything which
you are aware of in your background which might present a
conflict of interest with the duties of the office to which you
have been nominated?
Mr. Puig-Lugo. No, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. Do you know of any reason, personal or
otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from fully and
honorably discharging the responsibilities of the office to
which you have been nominated?
Mr. Puig-Lugo. No, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. Do you know of any reason, personal or
otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from serving the
full term for the office to which you have been nominated?
Mr. Puig-Lugo. No, sir, I do not.
Senator Voinovich. I would like to bring to your attention
that the Committee has received letters of support of the
nominees, and without objection, they will be placed in the
record.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Strauss follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR PAUL STRAUSS, SHADOW U.S. SENATOR ELECTED
BY THE VOTERS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Chairman Voinovich, and Members of the Committee on Governmental
Affairs, I am Paul Strauss, the U.S. Senator elected by the voters of
the District of Columbia, a position sometimes referred to as the
Shadow Senator. I am also an attorney who practices in our local
courts.
In each of those capacities, I appreciate the opportunity to
provide this statement on behalf of my constituents in the District of
Columbia. I am present here today to wholeheartedly express my support
of Judge Erik T. Washington, nominated for Associate Judge of the
District of Columbia.
I have known Judge Washington since before he was a judge, when we
both actively worked together with a community organization in the
District of Columbia. I have had the privilege to appear before Judge
Washington as an attorney and have come to know him on the bench, as
well as being a personal friend.Despite that friendship, he never
showed me any bias or favor and has always demonstrated the highest
levels of integrity, both on and off the bench. He even chastised me
once, when I properly deserved it.
He has been a lawyer with the District's Corporation Counsel, and
has also worked in private practice with much success. He is respected
by his colleagues, the members of the bar and the Washington legal
community in general.
As this Committee should know from my involvement with past
nominations, I am not hesitant to call attention to deficiencies of a
nominee. When concerns about Patricia Broderick arose at the end of the
last session, I asked the voting members whose interest in this process
were not as direct as mine to vote on my behalf. Were I seated with the
full rights and privileges of a U.S. Senator, I would vote to confirm
Judge Washington without hesitation. Today I ask you to vote yes for
me, and let this Honorable Judge take his place on my jurisdiction's
highest court.
Senator Voinovich. For the purposes of the people that are
here today, I want you to know that this very short hearing
that we are having today was preceded by an enormous amount of
work and time and effort on the part of the nominees and other
people and I personally have reviewed your resumes and your
records and the letters of recommendation in your files and
have visited with representatives of the President and also the
Justice Department. Just so everyone knows, they have been
through the gauntlet and I am sure that they have been
anticipating and looking forward to this day.
I do not believe there is anything more to come before the
Committee this morning. I again would like to let our nominees
know that we will be moving as quickly as we can to a markup
hearing sometime early in May and, hopefully, by the 15th or
so, you can go to work. I know that your future colleagues are
looking forward to your service in the respective courts to
which you have been nominated. Congratulations to you.
Judge Washington. Thank you.
Mr. Glickman. Thank you.
Mr. Puig-Lugo. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Voinovich. The record will remain open for 5 days
after the conclusion of the hearing.
The meeting is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:45 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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