Federal Bench

Two Baltimore-area nominees to the federal bench, Ellen Lipton Hollander and James K. Bredar, moved a step closer to confirmation Thursday when the Judiciary committee voted to send their names to the full Senate. The Marylanders won approval on voice votes, without opposition, but could still face a considerable wait to begin their lifetime appointments. At least 23 other judicial nominees are already in line for Senate debate and final action, as Republicans continue to slow the confirmation process.

Maryland's federal bench has selected two new U.S. magistrate judges to fill an open position in the northern division of the state's U.S. District Court, based in Baltimore, and an expected vacancy in the Greenbelt southern division. Final interviews occurred this week, and the nominees are undergoing background checks, which could last six months, said Chief Judge Deborah K. Chasanow. She declined to release the nominees' names until "they're ready for actual appointments. " But sources familiar with the selection process identified the two nominees.

WASHINGTON -- After enduring months of questioning about his qualifications, Prince George's County prosecutor Alexander Williams Jr. was confirmed by the full Senate last night for a seat on Maryland's federal bench.Earlier this year, the American Bar Association said Mr. Williams was not qualified to serve as a federal judge, citing his lack of trial experience and poor legal writing. But members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously last week to approve Mr. Williams' nomination and criticized the ABA's rating process.

U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. is scheduled to speak Sunday morning at Asbury United Methodist Church in Annapolis. Judge Williams, who presides over cases in the federal court in Greenbelt, has been on the federal bench since 1994. "There is a need for our youth to see role models like Judge Williams," said Carl O. Snowden, director of the Office for Civil Rights for the Office of the Maryland Attorney General. Snowden said Williams will speak as part of the service, which is open to the public, at 11 a.m. Among his degrees, Williams received his undergraduate and law degrees from Howard University, as well a master's degree from the School of Divinity there.

Two judges and a state's attorney -- all from the Washington suburbs -- have been recommended to fill vacancies on Maryland's federal bench.Democratic Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland announced yesterday that he has asked the White House to nominate U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah K. Chasanow, Prince George's County State's Attorney Alexander Williams Jr. and Montgomery County Circuit Judge Peter J. Messitte."

ATLANTA - Janice Rogers Brown's life story is testimony to the triumph of intellect and will, the indomitability of the human spirit and the singular promise of America. Born to sharecroppers in Greenville, Ala., in 1949, Ms. Brown, who is black, spent her childhood under the brutal lash of Jim Crow. Against the odds, she has risen to occupy a seat on the California Supreme Court. Still, she does not belong on the federal bench. Justice Brown is one of a handful of extremist judicial nominees put forward by President Bush but blocked, so far, by the U.S. Senate.

Baltimore attorney Richard D. Bennett, a white-collar criminal defense lawyer who has served as Maryland's chief federal prosecutor and was the state's Republican chairman during President Bush's 2000 campaign, was tapped yesterday by the White House to become a federal judge. Bennett, 55, was nominated to fill the vacancy on Maryland's federal bench created by Chief U.S. District Judge Frederic N. Smalkin's decision last summer to retire to senior status because of health concerns. The nomination marks the second federal judicial appointment in Maryland under the Bush administration.

Judge Joseph C. Howard Sr., the first African-American appointed to the federal bench in Baltimore, died yesterday of a rare neurodegenerative disease at his home in Pikesville. He was 77. Known as a trailblazer in the legal and civil rights community, Judge Howard made history Oct. 23, 1979, when he was appointed judge in the U.S. District Court after being nominated by President Jimmy Carter. News of his death yesterday from Shy-Drager syndrome was met with shock and grief by those who knew the outspoken jurist.

WASHINGTON - Neither the White House nor Senate Democrats are giving any quarter in their battle over what kind of judges should sit on the federal bench, and officials on both sides say they expect more confirmation fights in the months ahead. The first confrontation could be over any of several conservative nominees. One possibility, both sides say, is President Bush's declared choice of Priscilla Owen, a conservative justice on the Texas Supreme Court, for a federal appeals court post.

The White House nominated Baltimore Circuit Judge William D. Quarles yesterday to become the first federal judge for Maryland appointed under President Bush. Quarles, 54, has spent the past six years as a Circuit Court judge in Baltimore. He previously was a partner at the law firm Venable, Baetjer and Howard and was an assistant U.S. attorney during the Reagan administration. His nomination to the federal bench in Baltimore was expected. It was announced yesterday by U.S. Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Baltimore County Republican who lobbied for the appointment.

In response to the letter to the editor from Benedict Frederick Jr. regarding Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ("Slanted coverage of gay marriage ruling," Readers Respond, Aug. 8), Mr. Frederick concludes that because Judge Walker is rumored to be gay, he would have a personal bias in his ruling. If that were the case, wouldn't the opposite be true - a straight judge would also be biased? Mr. Frederick might be interested to know that Judge Walker was nominated to the federal bench in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan, and he was confirmed under President George H. W. Bush.

Two Baltimore-area nominees to the federal bench, Ellen Lipton Hollander and James K. Bredar, moved a step closer to confirmation Thursday when the Judiciary committee voted to send their names to the full Senate. The Marylanders won approval on voice votes, without opposition, but could still face a considerable wait to begin their lifetime appointments. At least 23 other judicial nominees are already in line for Senate debate and final action, as Republicans continue to slow the confirmation process.

Lost in the gathering debate over President Barack Obama's next Supreme Court pick, a profound shift in the federal judiciary is taking place below the high court. Working methodically, and drawing sporadic fire from left and right, Obama is gradually reshaping the U.S. courts. Already, he's tipped the balance of two appellate circuits to Democratic-appointed majorities, with a third about to flip. He also is choosing a larger proportion of women and minorities for lifetime federal judgeships than other presidents.

Next week, when federal judicial selection resumes, participants in the process could learn much from efforts to fill Judge J. Michael Luttig's vacancy on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On May 10, 2006, Judge Luttig, one of the brightest stars in the conservative judicial firmament and who was on every Supreme Court short list, resigned from the 4th Circuit, which includes Maryland. Nineteen months later, President Bush has yet to nominate anyone for this vacancy - a failure to act that typifies the Bush administration's selection process.

ATLANTA - Janice Rogers Brown's life story is testimony to the triumph of intellect and will, the indomitability of the human spirit and the singular promise of America. Born to sharecroppers in Greenville, Ala., in 1949, Ms. Brown, who is black, spent her childhood under the brutal lash of Jim Crow. Against the odds, she has risen to occupy a seat on the California Supreme Court. Still, she does not belong on the federal bench. Justice Brown is one of a handful of extremist judicial nominees put forward by President Bush but blocked, so far, by the U.S. Senate.

WASHINGTON - President Bush unleashed harsh criticism at Senate Democrats yesterday for holding up his judicial nominees as the last hours ticked down on a theatrical 39-hour marathon debate on judges that seemed to leave the two parties as deeply divided as ever. Little has changed since Republicans marched to the Senate chamber Wednesday evening to protest Democrats' use of procedural tactics this year to prevent a handful of Bush's conservative judicial choices from getting confirmation votes.

District Judge James Battin,71, a former Republican congressman who spent 27 years on the federal bench, died Friday of cancer in Billings, Mont.Pub Date: 9/29/96

Maryland's federal bench has selected two new U.S. magistrate judges to fill an open position in the northern division of the state's U.S. District Court, based in Baltimore, and an expected vacancy in the Greenbelt southern division. Final interviews occurred this week, and the nominees are undergoing background checks, which could last six months, said Chief Judge Deborah K. Chasanow. She declined to release the nominees' names until "they're ready for actual appointments. " But sources familiar with the selection process identified the two nominees.

WASHINGTON - The Senate unanimously confirmed Roger W. Titus yesterday to a seat on the federal District Court for Maryland, to plaudits from the state's two Democratic senators, who said the Bush administration nominee will be a good addition to the trial court. Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Paul S. Sarbanes backed Titus enthusiastically as the Senate considered his nomination. They had previously recommended Titus, a Rockville lawyer, for a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.

WASHINGTON - The fight Maryland's senators are waging against 4th Circuit Court nominee Claude A. Allen, a Virginian whom they say would be snatching a Maryland seat, is taking its place among the many bitter partisan battles Democrats have fought this year against President Bush's conservative judicial picks. But this one is different from the straight ideological grudge matches surrounding Bush's other nominees, pitting Democrats opposed to what they call right-wing candidates against Republicans eager to advance them.