[Senate Hearing 107-561]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 107-561
NOMINATION OF JAMES ``JEB'' E. BOASBERG
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HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
ON THE
NOMINATION OF JAMES ``JEB'' E. BOASBERG TO BE AN ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF THE
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
__________
JUNE 26, 2002
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Governmental Affairs
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___________________________________________________________________________
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COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TED STEVENS, Alaska
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
MAX CLELAND, Georgia THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah
JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri JIM BUNNING, Kentucky
MARK DAYTON, Minnesota PETER G. FITZGERALD, Illinois
Joyce A. Rechtschaffen, Staff Director and Counsel
Jennifer E. Hamilton, Research Assistant
Marianne Clifford Upton, Staff Director and Chief Counsel, Oversight of
Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia
Subcommittee
Richard A. Hertling, Minority Staff Director
Johanna L. Hardy, Minority Counsel
Theresa M. Prych, Minority Legislative Aide, Oversight of
Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia
Subcommittee
Darla D. Cassell, Chief Clerk
C O N T E N T S
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Opening statements:
Page
Senator Durbin............................................... 1
Senator Bunning.............................................. 5
WITNESSES
Wednesday, June 26, 2002
Hon. John Warner, a U.S. Senator from the State of Virginia...... 2
Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Delegate from the District of
Columbia....................................................... 3
James ``Jeb'' E. Boasberg to be an Associate Judge of the
Superior Court of the District of Columbia..................... 3
Alphabetical List of Witnesses
Boasberg, James ``Jeb'' E.:
Testimony.................................................... 3
Biographical and professional information.................... 9
Norton, Hon. Eleanor Holmes:
Testimony.................................................... 3
Warner, Hon. John:
Testimony.................................................... 2
appendix
Senator Paul Strauss, Shadow U.S. Senator elected by the voters
of the District of Columbia.................................... 6
NOMINATION OF JAMES ``JEB'' E. BOASBERG
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2002
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Governmental Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 3:02 p.m., in
room SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Richard J.
Durbin presiding.
Present: Senators Durbin and Bunning.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR DURBIN
Senator Durbin. Good afternoon. The hearing will come to
order. I am pleased to welcome all of you to this hearing
before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs to consider
the nomination of James Emanuel (Jeb) Boasberg to be an
Associate Judge on the District of Columbia Superior Court.
On May 13 of this year Mr. Boasberg was nominated by
President Bush to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of
Judge Gregory Mize. Mr. Boasberg is currently an Assistant U.S.
Attorney assigned to the homicide and major crimes section of
the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia. He has
been an Assistant U.S. Attorney since 1996. He has prosecuted
over 40 jury trial cases and some 25 to 30 bench trials. He has
presented 11 appellate arguments in various assignments
throughout his 6 years in the office.
Prior to his public service career he was an associate at
Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd & Evans in Washington, DC, from
1995 to 1996, and an associate at Keker & Van Nest in San
Francisco from 1991 to 1994. He served as a law clerk for the
Hon. Dorothy W. Nelson, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit from 1990 to 1991. Mr. Boasberg is a District of
Columbia native, and earned both his bachelor's and law degrees
from Yale.
I am certain this is a very special day for you, Mr.
Boasberg, as you contemplate this next step in your legal
career. I understand you may have some family members with you
as well as supportive colleagues and friends. Would you care to
introduce them at this time?
Mr. Boasberg. Yes, thank you very much, Senator Durbin.
First of all, thank you so much for having this hearing and
acting on my nomination in such an expeditious fashion. I would
also like to thank your staff which have been very helpful to
me throughout.
I would like to introduce some people--my wife is here,
Liddy Manson, and my son, Daniel. We left our 2-year-old twin
daughters at home in the interest of public safety. Also, my
sister Melissa; my father and mother-in-law, Gavin Manson and
Mary Manson; and then my parents, Sally Boasberg, and the
photographer Tersh Boasberg. They are here on a very special
day because today is their 42nd wedding anniversary. Finally,
there are also a number of friends and colleagues, past and
present, from the U.S. Attorneys Office.
Thank you, sir.
Senator Durbin. I would like to welcome my colleagues, the
senior Senator from Virginia, John Warner, and Congresswoman
Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia, who are both
here to offer words of introduction on behalf of Mr. Boasberg.
Senator Warner, please proceed.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN WARNER, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF
VIRGINIA
Senator Warner. I thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is one of
those moments in my 24 years in the Senate that I look forward
to. It is fairly interesting. This fine man who is now 6-foot-4
or 5 inches in height, I have a picture taken of him in my
office in the Pentagon when I was Secretary of the Navy. I had
my son and the nominee over for some luncheon or something, and
I had to leave my office. A photographer slipped in and got a
picture of this nominee in my seat, feet on the desk, and one
of my big cigars in his mouth, and my son was sitting there
hilariously laughing. I feel like he is a member of the family.
It is extraordinary, and the distinguished Chair of the
Committee here has already enumerated his history and I will
not go over the credentials of this fine individual and all he
has achieved.
Our careers have paralleled in the sense that I, too, had
the privilege of being a law clerk to a Federal circuit judge,
E. Barrett Prettyman, and I was privileged, with the support of
the Chair and others, to name the courthouse here in honor of
him several years ago. Then I went on from the clerkship to the
U.S. Attorney's Office, where you are today, and I tried cases
all through basically the same fundamental court structure for
4 or 5 years and then back out into private law practice. So we
have had a parallel career although separated, I guess, by 40
years.
So I would just like to take the time of the Committee to
read one statement; something I have never done before in my
many years in the Senate. I do so as follows, in closing, I
would like to end my statement with a few words by my son John
in support of Jeb Boasberg.
My son writes, ``Since the 4th grade at St. Albans School I
have regarded my good friend Jeb Boasberg as the embodiment of
the young Abraham Lincoln during our civil war education class;
matching him in physical stature, leadership, morality, wisdom,
and just plain good looks. Jeb more than once saved me from my
own devices at that young age. Not only did he provide a
shining example of what a young boy could be to his peers, he
also uplifted all his classmates in the eyes of the elder
generation.''
``He has kept these values intact to this day, and has in
fact polished them to a high patina. He is also one heck of a
good basketball player, to which his swollen, broken right-hand
middle finger will eternally attest.''
I think at this point I will make a hasty withdrawal. Mr.
Chairman, as you know, I am on the floor managing a small
matter of concern to the Senate at this moment. I thank the
indulgence of the Chair, the colleagues, and all who are in
attendance. You are on your own. Good luck.
Mr. Boasberg. Thank you.
Senator Durbin. Thank you, Senator Warner. That small
matter he is referring to is the Department of Defense
authorization bill, that I certainly know is of great
importance. I would just say for the record that Senator
Warner's son knows how to play to the crowd since he is
speaking of Abraham Lincoln to someone from Illinois.
Congresswoman Norton.
STATEMENT OF HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, A DELEGATE FROM THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Ms. Norton. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I must say that if a
nominee is able to keep his reputation intact with a peer since
elementary school, that says a lot for him. I am pleased to
support the nomination of James Boasberg. I do so entirely on
the merits of a distinguished and professionally relevant
career, though I make the disclosure that I have known his
parents, Tersch and Sally Boasberg, for many years. They are
outstanding Washingtonians, so I can assure you that Mr.
Boasberg was raised right.
Mr. Boasberg's career is tailor made for the bench of our
city. His extensive experience in jury trials and prosecutions
before the grand jury and appeals, his several awards, while he
has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney, his civil and white-collar
litigation experience here and in San Francisco in private
firms, his clerkship on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, his
education, magna cum laude from Yale College and then Yale Law
School and Oxford.
I think this is precisely the kind of nominee that this
Committee would want to confirm and I am pleased to commend his
nomination to you at this time, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Durbin. Thank you, Congresswoman Norton, for your
attendance at these hearings with regularity. We are always
happy to have you over here. I hope at some future day that you
will have to tell us you have to leave because you have a vote
on the floor.
Mr. Boasberg, it is customary for this Committee to swear
in witnesses. I would ask you to please stand and ask you to
raise your right hand.
[Witness sworn.]
Senator Durbin. Let the record indicate the witness has
answered in the affirmative. Do you have any opening remarks
which you would like to make?
TESTIMONY OF JAMES ``JEB'' E. BOASBERG TO BE AN ASSOCIATE JUDGE
OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Mr. Boasberg. Just very quickly, Senator. I would like to
thank Senator Warner and Congresswoman Norton for their
incredibly gracious introductions and their appearance here
today. I truly appreciate that.
I would like to finally say that if I have acquired the
legal skills required to be a judge, the knowledge of what is
just, of how to deal with difficult issues, and what can be
done for citizens of this city, I have learned it from my
colleagues, many of whom are here today. And if I have the
proper temperament to be a judge and can treat all kinds of
people with civility, respect, and fairness, I have learned
those things from my parents, and I would not be here without
all of those people.
Senator Durbin. Thank you. Well said. As a candidate for
this appointment you have been through a thorough screening
process, recommended by the D.C. Judicial Nominating Committee,
subjected to an FBI background investigation, and subsequently
selected and nominated by the President. Since your nomination
was received in the Senate you have completed a thorough
biographical questionnaire,\1\ Committee staff have conducted
background checks and interviewed you. I have reviewed your
responses and note that you have an extensive and exemplary
record of service.
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\1\ The biographical and professional information appears in the
Appendix on page 9.
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There are three questions that are required of each nominee
before this Committee which I will now ask you. Is there
anything that you are aware of in your background that might
present a conflict of interest with the duties of the office to
which you have been nominated?
Mr. Boasberg. No, sir.
Senator Durbin. 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. Boasberg. No, sir.
Senator Durbin. 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. Boasberg. I do not.
Senator Durbin. I have had the chance to review your
background and I am not going to pretend to manufacture
questions here; it is extraordinary. I am glad that you are
dedicated to public service. We are lucky to have people like
you who are willing to do that, and you are lucky to be part of
a family that considers that to be a noble calling. I am sure
that Daniel may not remember everything about this day but I
hope he will recall that his dad was here and went through this
confirmation.
When you consider the fact that you will be appointed, with
Senate confirmation, to a 15-year term, I am a little envious.
We only get 6-year terms. But there comes, with that
appointment, a certain concern based on my personal experience
before I was ever elected to Congress. Some have characterized
what I am about to describe as black robe-itis, when a judge
reaches a lofty pinnacle and proceeds to gaze down on the
assembled, unwashed multitude below.
It is a phenomena or perception that once someone has
received a long-term appointment as a judge many times, in
their own minds, they vault themselves into some pantheon of a
god-like creature who is unapproachable by mere humans. It
happens, fortunately rarely, but it does happen. I think it
does a disservice to the administration of justice and the law.
So I would like, even though I know what your answer is
going to be, I would like to put you on the record, if you
would please, to talk about judicial temperament or what part
that might play in your judicial appointment.
Mr. Boasberg. One of the benefits of being an Assistant
U.S. Attorney is that I have appeared in Superior Court every
week, and often every day for long stretches over the last 5\1/
2\ years. During that time, I have had an opportunity to watch
many judges, and get an assessment of both their abilities and
their temperament.
I would certainly hope that I would be able to act with
civility, respect, and decency to everybody who came into that
courtroom, be they attorneys, lawyers, victims importantly,
witnesses, courtroom staff, and jurors. And that means things
like getting onto the bench on time, not keeping jurors
waiting, treating court reporters and courtroom staff with
decency and courtesy.
I think, in terms of the robe-itis, as you have called it
Senator, a feeling of elevation above those who appear before
you, I think that I am fortunate enough to know many people and
to have good friendships with many people who are judges, who
are prosecutors, and who are defense lawyers. And if I even
tried to get away with anything like that, they would quickly
let me know that I was acting out of character. So I will trust
in that backbone of support to never let that occur.
Senator Durbin. Thank you. Senator Bunning, do you have any
questions?
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BUNNING
Senator Bunning. I have an opening statement that I would
like, first of all, to ask unanimous consent that it be
inserted in the record.
Senator Durbin. Without objection.
[The prepared opening statement of Senator Bunning
follows:]
PREPARED OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BUNNING
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Today, this Committee is considering the nomination of Jeb
Boasberg, a nominee to be an Associate Judge of the D.C. Superior
Court.
As I have said before, judges play a critical role in our society.
They have the unique task of enforcing the laws we create, and,
more importantly, they're charged with insuring that the basic rights
guaranteed to all American citizens are upheld in every case that comes
before them.
As an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia working
within the homicide and major crimes section, Mr. Boasberg has seen a
side of human nature that many of us, God willing, will never
encounter, and I hope that Mr. Boasberg will be able to use his
experiences both in the private and public sectors to run his courtroom
fairly and expeditiously.
I look forward to hearing from Mr. Boasberg today, and gaining his
perspective on what will possibly be his new job.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Bunning. Yes, I have a couple of questions.
Senator Durbin. Please proceed.
Senator Bunning. I have had a similar experience that your
father is going through today, as I have had a son who was an
Assistant U.S. Attorney for 10\1/2\ years and just now is a
judge in the Eastern District of Kentucky.
I am sure your father will not let you get judge-itis, as I
know my son will not get judge-itis, because I am not going to
let him either. If you do have a problem, I am sure your peers,
particularly on the bench, will straighten you out in a hurry.
I know and have read your record and find you to be highly
qualified for this unique position. It is a 15-year term, but
with the right attitude and answering all the questions as you
have, I am sure you will do a fine job for the District, and I
am here to congratulate you, and I would like to lend my
support to your nomination.
Mr. Boasberg. Thank you very much, Senator.
Senator Durbin. Thank you, Senator Bunning. Thank you, Mr.
Boasberg, for your responses. I want to thank your family and
friends for joining you today. I know you are anxious to see
this confirmation completed and I will go out on a limb and
predict that I think it is going to happen.
I note receipt of a statement of support of your nomination
from Paul Strauss, which will be included and be made part of
the record.
[The prepared statement of Paul Strauss follows:]
PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR PAUL STRAUSS, SHADOW U.S. SENATOR ELECTED
BY THE VOTERS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Chairman Durbin and Members of the Senate Committee on Governmental
Affairs, I am Paul Strauss, the U.S. Senator elected by the voters of
the District of Columbia, a position referred to as the Shadow Senator.
I am also an attorney practicing in the local courts of the District of
Columbia. In each of these capacities, I appreciate the opportunity to
provide this statement on behalf of my constituents in the District of
Columbia. I wish to express my wholehearted support for the President's
nomination of James E. Boasberg to be an Associate Judge of Superior
Court of the District of Columbia.
Mr. Boasberg has an accomplished record, having served as Assistant
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for the Appellate Division,
Misdemeanor Section, Grand Jury Section, General Felony Section,
Narcotics Section, Homicide Section, and the newly created Homicide and
Major Crime Section. Mr. Boasberg's previous experience in private
practice, as an associate with Kellog, Huber, Hansen, Todd and Evans of
D.C., where he dealt with business litigation and criminal defense
matters, has been of tremendous benefit to the District of Columbia and
the citizens he has represented. Moreover, with his experience with
specializing in First Amendment defamation work, complex civil
litigation, and white-collar criminal defense, he offers the Superior
Court a fresh perspective in these matters. His legal career also
includes many significant cases such as United States v. Joseph Mesa
Jr., United States v. Thomas Lewis and Raymond Weldon, and United
States v. Darryl Turner to name a few. These cases dealt with heinous
acts and dangerous criminals. These cases appear to have been handled
with the utmost diligence and professionalism by Mr. Boasberg, and also
resulted in convictions of the alleged perpetrators.
Mr. Boesberg has also been recognized for his achievements in the
field of law, by being awarded the U.S. Attorney's Office Special
Achievement Award in 2001, 2000, 1999 and 1998. This obviously shows
his competence as a trial lawyer and his future capacity for judicial
temperament. Moreover his avid support for developmental programs
displays his commitment to his community. For example, he is an 8-year
member of the Ellington Development Council, which raises money,
promotes community consciousness, and assists students at The Duke
Ellington School for the Arts. Mr. Boasberg is also the Chairman and
co-founder of the Bishop John T. Walker Fellowship Committee, which
grants $2,500 to St. Albans School students to promote social service
in lesser developed countries or poorer areas of the United States.
Based on the information made available to my office, I have
concluded that there is no reason not to support James E. Boasberg's
nomination. I look forward to his investiture onto the Superior Court
bench and I am confident that he will uphold the honor of our justice
system. The nominee appears qualified to meet the responsibilities and
tasks that an Associate Judge of Superior Court of the District of
Columbia may face. So, today I ask that you vote yes for this
nomination on behalf of the District of Columbia residents who do not
have anyone in this body who vote on their behalf.
Senator Durbin. The next step in the process will be prompt
consideration at the full Committee markup in the very near
future, and then report to the full Senate for final action.
With that, this hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:17 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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