[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 51 (Tuesday, April 30, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S3527]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Nomination of Cynthia M. Rufe

  The nomination of Judge Cynthia Rufe comes to this floor after having 
been approved unanimously by the Judiciary Committee. She has an 
excellent educational background: A bachelor's degree from Adelphi 
University, a J.D. from the State University of New York. She has 
extensive experience in the private practice of law. She was in the 
public defender's office for some 5 years. She has been solicitor in 
her home county, Bucks County, PA, and has been a judge on the State 
Court of Common Pleas from 1994 to the present. She presides over the 
Criminal Court, Juvenile Court and Protection From Abuse cases.

  Prior to her election to the position of judge in 1993, she 
maintained law offices in Newtown, Pennsylvania practicing civil and 
criminal litigation, family law and specializing in child abuse cases.
  Before entering private practice in 1982, Judge Rufe served Bucks 
County as Deputy Public Defender, coordinating that office's Juvenile 
Division.
  She also served as Solicitor for the Bucks County Children and Youth 
Social Services Agency for four years.
  The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has appointed Judge Rufe to sit on the 
Appelate Procedural Rules Committee. She also serves the Pennsylvania 
Conference of State Trial Judges on their Judicial Education, Juvenile 
Court and Corrections Committees.
  In addition, she served on a Federal task force to improve the 
quality of mental health treatment and services for female inmates in 
the Bucks County jail system.
  Judge Rufe has been an active member of several community agencies 
related to the improvement of youth, families, and drug and alcohol 
issues, including serving as a member of the Board of Directors of 
Youth Services, Inc.; Organization to Prevent Teenage Suicide, Inc.; 
Reaching-at-Problems, Inc. Group Home; and Prevention and 
Rehabilitation for Youth and Development, Inc.
  Judge Rufe has received countless awards from various women law 
organizations in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.