[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 26, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S2451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS
Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am deeply disappointed that my
Republican colleagues continue to play politics with our judicial
system.
There are currently 79 judicial vacancies in this country--28 of
which are judicial emergency vacancies. In each of these districts
across the country, Americans are waiting for their cases to be heard,
but instead of justice, they are left hanging in the lurch.
I have said it before, and I will say it again: Justice delayed is
justice denied.
Senate Republicans refuse to act to confirm Judge Merrick Garland--
who has more Federal judicial experience than any other Supreme Court
candidate in history--to the Supreme Court, and they refuse to act on
the 20 judicial nominees who were reported out of the Judiciary
Committee by voice vote. It is outrageous that Senate Republicans
stubbornly refuse to move these nominations forward, letting these
accomplished and qualified nominees languish.
One of those judges is Mark Young, an excellent nominee for the
Central District Court of California, which is ranked 11th in the
Nation in weighted case filings per judgeship.
We need to fill this seat as soon as possible, and Judge Young is an
extraordinary candidate. I was honored to introduce him at his
nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last October
and go over his impeccable resume.
He has served as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge since 2008
and has 10 years of experience as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's
office in Los Angeles.
He holds degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and
the University of Southern California Gould School of Law; and he has
won numerous awards from organizations including the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Attorney
General's Distinguished Service Award--one of the Department of
Justice's highest honors.
The people of the Central District of California need his leadership,
and the overworked judges of the Central District need his help.
We also have two additional candidates from California who are
awaiting Judiciary Committee hearings.
Judge Paul L. Abrams was nominated by President Obama in December
2015 to serve as the U.S. District Court Judge for the Central
District. Judge Abrams is currently a U.S. magistrate judge for the
Central District, a post he has held since 2002.
He began his career in private practice and then worked as a legal
aid lawyer before serving in the Federal public defender's office,
eventually becoming a supervising deputy Federal public defender. He
holds degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, and Boalt
Hall School of Law.
Judge Lucy Koh, currently serving in the Northern District, was
nominated by President Obama for the Ninth Circuit Court in February of
this year. The daughter of Korean immigrants and a Harvard graduate,
Judge Koh began her legal career as a Women's Law and Public Policy
Fellow for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
At the U.S. Department of Justice, she served as a special assistant
to the Deputy Attorney General before spending 3 years as a Federal
prosecutor in Los Angeles, where she was awarded the Federal Bureau of
Investigation Director Louis J. Freeh Award for Demonstrated Excellence
in Prosecuting a Major Criminal Case. She then spent 9 years in private
practice. She served on the Superior Court for Santa Clara County until
2010, when she was appointed to the Northern District, becoming the
first Korean American woman to serve as a Federal district court judge.
Each of these excellent candidates has flawless credentials, broad
support, and they are ready to serve. So what are we waiting for? The
American people cannot wait for justice--and they shouldn't have to.
Let's move forward with giving each of these excellent judicial
candidates the consideration and vote that they deserve.
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