Here:
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing is tomorrow at 10AM. It will be broadcast here.
federal judicial nominations
NCAI Press Release in Support of Diane Humetewa and John Tuchi Federal Judicial Nominations
NCAI Applauds President’s Nominations of Diane Humetewa and John Tuchi for Federal District Court Judge in Arizona;
Confirmation will make Humetewa First American Indian Woman Federal Judge
Confirmation will make Humetewa First American Indian Woman Federal Judge
Washington, DC – The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) has endorsed President Obama’s nomination of Diane J. Humetewa from the Hopi Tribe to serve as a United States District Court Judge for the District of Arizona. Senator John McCain of Arizona is credited with recommending the nomination. Upon confirmation, Humetewa will be the first American Indian woman in history to serve as a federal judge. Humetewa served as the United States Attorney for the District of Arizona from 2007 to 2009 under President George W. Bush.
NCAI also endorsed the President’s nomination of John Joseph Tuchi to serve as a United States District Court Judge for the District of Arizona. Tuchi’s service as Tribal Liaison from 2009-2012 demonstrated his knowledge of federal Indian law and his commitment to the critical role of tribes in the American family of governments. His nomination has the strong support of tribes in Arizona.
“These nominations are a significant step forward for Indian Country. Diane Humetewa is highly qualified and has been recognized and nominated for important federal positions by both Present Obama and President Bush. John Tuchi is highly qualified and has a strong record of upholding the trust responsibility to tribal nations. NCAI endorses the President’s nominations and we urge the Senate to move quickly to confirm them both,” said NCAI President Jefferson Keel.
“This also represents a great step forward for the federal courts. For many years we have stressed the importance of including Native Americans in the federal judiciary. Senator McCain should be applauded for recommending the nomination of Ms. Humetewa,” added Keel. “We have also underscored the need for all federal judges to understand federal Indian law. Mr. Tuchi has a firsthand understanding of the importance of federal Indian law, an asset that is far too rare among federal judges.”
NCAI First Vice Present Juana Majel also praised the nomination of Humetewa. “In 2013 we have witnessed the passage of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization that included extraordinarily important protections for Native women. With the nomination of Diane Humetewa to be the first Native woman to be a federal judge, 2013 is truly a landmark year for Native women.”
Biographies provided by the White House:
Diane J. Humetewa: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona
Diane J. Humetewa currently serves as Special Advisor to the President and Special Counsel in the Office of General Counsel at Arizona State University. She is also a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. From 2009 to 2011, Humetewa was Of Counsel with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP. She worked in the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Arizona from 1996 to 2009, serving as Senior Litigation Counsel from 2001 to 2007 and as the United States Attorney from 2007 to 2009. During her tenure in the United States Attorney’s Office, Humetewa also served as Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General from 1996 to 1998. From 1993 to 1996, she was Deputy Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Humetewa received her J.D. in 1993 from Arizona State University College of Law and her B.S. in 1987 from Arizona State University. She is a member of the Hopi Indian Tribe and, from 2002 to 2007, was an Appellate Court Judge for the Hopi Tribe Appellate Court.
John Joseph Tuchi: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona
John Joseph Tuchi has been an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Arizona since 1998. He currently serves as Chief Assistant United States Attorney in the office and has previously served as Interim United States Attorney in 2009, Senior Litigation Counsel and Tribal Liaison from 2009 to 2012, and as Chief of the Criminal Division from 2006 to 2009. Tuchi also worked as an associate at the law firm of Brown & Bain, P.A. from 1995 to 1998. He began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge William C. Canby of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Tuchi received his J.D. magna cum laude in 1994 from Arizona State University College of Law, his M.S. in 1989 from the University of Arizona, and his B.S. in 1987 from West Virginia University.
News Coverage of Patricia Millett Senate Judiciary Confirmation Hearing
Pres. Obama Nominations for Eighth and Tenth Circuits
Here is White House press release.
Excerpt:
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release January 31, 2013
President Obama Nominates Two to Serve on the US Court of Appeals
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama nominated Jane Kelly and Gregory Alan Phillips to the United States Court of Appeals.
President Obama said, “Jane Kelly and Gregory Alan Phillips have proven themselves to be not only first-rate legal minds but faithful public servants. It is with full confidence in their ability, integrity, and independence that I nominate them to the bench of the United States Court of Appeals.”
Jane Kelly: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Jane Kelly has been an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Northern District of Iowa since 1994, serving as the Supervising Attorney in the Cedar Rapids office since 1999.Kelly was born and raised in Greencastle, Indiana. She received her B.A. summa cum laude in 1987 from Duke University and her J.D. cum laude in 1991 from Harvard Law School. After graduating from law school, Kelly clerked for the Honorable Donald J. Porter of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota. Subsequently, she also clerked for the Honorable David R. Hansen on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Prior to becoming an Assistant Federal Public Defender, Kelly worked briefly as a visiting instructor at the University of Illinois College of Law. Since joining the Federal Public Defender’s Office, Kelly has argued numerous federal appellate cases, tried 14 cases to verdict in federal court, and argued countless motions. In 2004, she received the John Adams Award from the Iowa Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, which is given annually to an Iowa attorney who has dedicated his or her career to defending the indigent.
Gregory Alan Phillips: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Gregory Alan Phillips has served as Wyoming’s Attorney General since March 2011. As Attorney General, he is the chief law enforcement officer of the state and his office represents Wyoming in all criminal appeals and civil suits before state and federal courts.Phillips grew up in Evanston, Wyoming. He received his B.A. from the University of Wyoming in 1983 and his J.D. with honors from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1987. After graduating from law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alan B. Johnson of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming from 1987 to 1989. In 1989, Phillips joined his father and brother in their general law practice in Evanston, handling a broad range of civil matters. From 1993 to 1999, he also represented Uinta County in the Wyoming State Senate. Phillips opened the law firm Mead & Phillips in 1998, where he handled a wide variety of civil litigation and prosecuted Medicaid reimbursement claims on behalf of Wyoming. In 2003, he joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming and handled criminal prosecutions and appeals on behalf of the government. As an Assistant United States Attorney, Phillips argued nineteen cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He continued to serve in the United States Attorney’s Office until he was selected to serve as Attorney General by current Wyoming Governor Matthew Mead.
Native Hawaiian Derrick Kahala Watson nominated for Federal Judgeship
Congratulations to Derrick Kahala Watson! Below is his bio, released by the White House on Wednesday.
Derrick Kahala Watson: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii
Derrick Kahala Watson has been an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Hawaii since 2007, and has served as Chief of the Civil Division since 2009. Previously, he worked at the San Francisco law firm of Farella Braun + Martel LLP, where his practice focused on product liability, toxic tort, and environmental cost recovery litigation. He joined the firm in 2000 and was named partner in 2003. Watson was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of California from 1995 to 2000, serving as Deputy Chief of the Civil Division from 1999 to 2000. He began his legal career at the law firm of Landels, Ripley & Diamond in San Francisco, where he was an associate from 1991 to 1995. Watson received his J.D. in 1991 from Harvard Law School, his A.B. in 1988 from Harvard College, and is a 1984 graduate of The Kamehameha Schools.
Judge Cebull’s Mistake, Federal Judicial Nominations, and Tribal Courts
The flap over Judge Cebull’s email is controversial.
But Judge Cebull’s record as a tribal court judge raises a completely different question for me. How many federal court judges previously served as a tribal court judges? Does it help or hurt their nominations?
Sen. Leahy mentioned Judge Cebull’s record as a tribal court judge in passing, and in a positive light. See the hearing testimony in this PDF at page 45, the first page of the document.
Tribal court experience didn’t seem to help Arvo Mikkanen’s nomination, unfortunately.
Does anyone know about other examples?
Andrew Cohen on Arvo Mikkanen and “the White Man”
Here.
A snippet:
[G]uess how many federal judges in Oklahoma, and in the rest of the United States, have ever been of Native American descent? Over the past nine generations since the Trail of Tears started depositing its survivors, the number is two. Let me repeat: Of the thousands of federal judges who have served across the nation over the past 224 years since Article III of the Constitution created our federal judiciary, there have been only two Native American jurists, according to statistics at the Federal Judicial Center, the official source of such biographical information about the federal judiciary.
And one of those two, U.S. District Judge Frank Howell Seay, who sits today with senior status in Oklahoma, didn’t even know about his native heritage until he was in his 50s and on the bench (in other words, his nomination and confirmation were based upon the presumption that Seay was a regular ol’ white guy). The other Native American federal judge to ever serve on the bench was Billy Burrage, also in Oklahoma, who was nominated to the bench by President Bill Clinton in 1994. He resigned in 2001. To give you a frame of reference, there have been (just) 170 black federal judges in the nation’s history.
Turtle Talk 