[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 73 (Monday, May 1, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1435-S1436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                 Nomination of Anthony Devos Johnstone

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm 
Anthony Johnstone to a Montana seat on the Ninth Circuit Court of 
Appeals. Mr. Johnstone is an accomplished appellate litigator, 
academic, and public servant and was unanimously rated ``well 
qualified'' by the ABA. He received degrees from Yale University and 
the University of Chicago Law School before clerking for Judge Sidney 
Thomas, whom he has been nominated to succeed.
  Mr. Johnstone began his career in private practice as a commercial 
litigator in New York before returning to Montana to pursue a career in 
both public service and academia. From 2004 to 2011, Mr. Johnstone 
served in the Montana Department of Justice. In recognition of his 
legal acumen, he was appointed State solicitor--Montana's top appellate 
lawyer--in 2008. In this role, he handled 29 cases on appeal, including 
19 as sole or chief counsel of record.
  Since 2007, Johnstone has also served as a professor at the 
University of Montana Blewett School of Law. He teaches courses on 
constitutional law, legislation, the regulatory process, and other 
topics. In addition to teaching, he is also a prolific writer and has 
authored pieces on federalism, the law of democracy, and issues of 
importance to rural communities--including those located in the Ninth 
Circuit's jurisdiction.
  Mr. Johnstone has earned the trust of leaders throughout the Montana 
legal community. With his experience in both legal practice and legal 
theory, along with his unwavering commitment to the Constitution and 
the rule

[[Page S1436]]

of law, Mr. Johnstone will be an exceptional judge on the Ninth 
Circuit.
  I strongly support his nomination and urge my colleagues to do the 
same.
  Mr. TESTER. Madam President, I rise today to speak in support of 
Anthony Johnstone's confirmation to be a judge for the Ninth Circuit 
Court of Appeals.
  I am very proud to be supporting this Montanan for such an important 
position. He is going to bring something that we are in need of in this 
body a lot of the time, and that is common sense. He is also a man of 
integrity.
  Americans expect their judges to apply the law without bias, in a 
nonpartisan way, and that is exactly what Anthony Johnstone has done 
throughout his legal career. He has an outstanding record of service to 
the people of Montana. He served as clerk for Judge Sid Thomas on the 
Ninth Circuit and then as our State solicitor and assistant attorney 
general at the Montana Department of Commerce.
  For more than a decade, he has encouraged the next generation of 
legal minds at the University of Montana's Alexander Blewett III School 
of Law.
  He is supported by Democrats and Republicans alike, including the 
past two attorney generals from Montana--one from each party. He is 
supported by Montana's former Republican solicitor general. He is 
supported by retired Montana Supreme Court justices. He is supported by 
Tribes across the great State of Montana. And he is supported by former 
Yale and Chicago Law classmates and countless other public servants 
across the Ninth District.
  Mr. Johnstone has stood up for our Constitution time and time and 
time again. I have no doubt that he will continue to do that as a 
judge. We have the opportunity--the opportunity here in a moment--to 
confirm an excellent and impartial legal mind to the Ninth Circuit 
bench. I would urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting 
Anthony Johnstone's nomination.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the scheduled vote 
occur immediately.