[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 35 (Friday, March 22, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S2319]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S2319]]
                       NOMINATION OF JAMES MAHAN

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I am very pleased that the Senate has 
approved Judge James C. Mahan, of Las Vegas, to be the next judge on 
the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.
  May I say on behalf of my colleague, Senator Ensign, and myself that 
Jim Mahan has the unequivocal support of both Senators from Nevada.
  Jim Mahan currently serves as a Judge on the Eighth Judicial District 
Court in Clark County, Nevada, He was Governor Kenny Guinn's first 
judicial appointment to the Clark County District Court in February 
1999, an appointment that reflects the deep respect Judge Mahan has 
garnered from his colleagues and other Nevada officials. Since taking 
the bench on March 8, 1999, he has presided over a docket of more than 
3,000 civil and criminal cases. Despite this heavy docket, Judge Mahan 
also hears probate matters, drug court and grand jury returns on a 
regular basis.
  As my colleagues have heard me state on numerous occasions, Las Vegas 
has been the fastest growing metropolitan community in the United 
States for more than a decade. Very hard work and dedication is 
required of our judges, policemen, firemen, and other civil servants on 
a daily basis.
  These qualities will serve Judge Mahan well on the U.S. District 
Court for the District of Nevada, whose docket has increased at a rate 
that mirrors the explosive growth of my home State, especially Las 
Vegas.
  I am so proud to have played a role in creating three additional 
judgeships for the District of Nevada over the last few years.
  Prior to the Senate's confirmation of Roger Hunt and Kent Dawson last 
year, and Larry Hickes last month, Nevadans seeking justice in Federal 
court were forced to wait up to 3 years before their case went to 
trial. And these delays may have been worse had it not been for our 
hard working judges. Those judges hear, on average, more cases than any 
active judges throughout the country.
  Although the docket remains one of the busiest in the Federal 
judiciary, these judgeships--and the fine jurists who have filled 
them--have had an immediate impact on the Federal bench in Nevada. When 
he takes his place on the District Court, Jim Mahan will be a 
tremendous asset to what is already one of the finest courts in the 
nation.
  As he assumes his new judgeship, Judge Mahan also will be taking a 
wealth of other experiences with him to the bench. Before becoming a 
judge, he and Frank A. Ellis III formed the law firm of Mahan & Ellis, 
where they practiced business and commercial law for 17 years in Las 
Vegas.
  A long-time resident of Las Vegas, having lived and practiced law 
continuously since 1973, Jim was admitted to practice in Nevada in 1974 
in both State and Federal court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 
1974, and the U.S. Supreme Court in 1980.
  Jim Mahan was born in El Paso, TX, on December 16, 1943. His family 
eventually moved to Grand Junction, CO, where he graduated from high 
school. Jim graduated from the University of Charleston in Charleston, 
WV, in 1965, and received his law degree from Vanderbilt University 
School of Law in 1973. In between his graduate and law school studies, 
Jim served in the United States Navy.
  Jim has been blessed with a beautiful family. He and his wife of 33 
years, Eileen, are the proud parents of one son James, Junior, who is a 
graduate from the University of Southern California.
  In short, Jim Mahan has already proven that he is an excellent judge 
and a fine Nevadan. He will make an outstanding addition to the Federal 
bench.

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