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Transcripts For CSPAN Senate Judiciary Committee Takes Up Ju
Transcripts For CSPAN Senate Judiciary Committee Takes Up Ju
Transcripts For CSPAN Senate Judiciary Committee Takes Up Judicial Nominations 20170920
Good morning and welcome, everyone, especially the nominees and their families. Today well hear from two panels. Well hear from justice ead of colorado, nominated to be
Circuit Court
judge on the 10th
Circuit Court
. Did i get the pronunciation wrong . On the second panel well hear from four nominees to
District Court
, senator coons, do you ave any opening remarks today . Senator coons thank you to serve alongside you in the
Ranking Member
in todays confirmation hearing. Id like to almost each of the nominees and families and friends of the
United States
senate and congratulate you on the nominations and look forward to posing questions to you. The positions to which youve been nominated are important and the federal jude is federal judiciary is bedrock of our democracy. They resolve disputes between real people and determine whether him the freedoms are protected and given the weightiness of their responsibilities and lifetime tenure that comes from a judicial appointment, these are critical for the
American People
to learn about a nominees record and hear that nominee respond to the questions and for that reason i regret the timing when today many colleagues, particularly some on my side of the aisle could not be here but yesterday the senate finished its legislative business so senators could travel to spend the recess with their families and some are today celebrating rosh hashanah, the jewish new year. I understand there were concerned raised about being unable to attend in light of this schedule and the religious holiday and ask the hearing to be postponed. Hearings like today are a key tool for evaluating nominees for judgeships and carrying out the senates responsibility for carrying out out constitution to provide advice and consent and why its extraordinary for the hearing to be held when the senate is not in session particularly over the objections of several minority members. It did not happen previouslyly and is not business as usual. Today we will consider a nominee to serve on the 10th circuit who
President Trump
previously listed as nominee for the
Supreme Court
and we have a
District Court
nominee for the longest open vacancy in the country, a vacancy the
Previous Administration
attempted to address twice. I know my colleague from
North Carolina
supports this nominee but i would respectfully note the nominee is opposed by several groups including the congressional black caucus. I wish, as i said, we could have proceeded at this hearing at a time more of my colleagues could have attended. Its important we continue to function as a committee consistent with the senates institutional norms and traditions. Let me briefly also say a word about a long held tradition of this community, the blue slip. In recent weeks ive seen reports questioning this century old tradition, the blue slip ensures senators republicans and democrats alike, get to weigh in on judges nominated from their home state. These blue slip practices were honored by chairman leahy and honored by chairman grassley. If a senator does not return a supportive blue slip, that nominee did not proceed to a hearing in the committee over much of the last century. This is not a partisan issue. And in my view, a different president might have made different nominations to the same judicial vacancies and in certain cases home state senators have objected and those objections were respected. I can live with that as long as the tradition applies equally to both sides no matter who occupies the white house and all of us should be afforded the opportunity to ensure home state senators are nominated and we should
Work Together
in a bipartisan way to uphold this long tradition of this important body and a component part of how this committee serves its order. And i look forward to hearing you. I promise you as soon as my glasses get here i will not produce any other words or names for the remainder of this hearing. Last week any scheduler put this hearing on my calendar. D on monday night i had full expectations i would be working because we were scheduled to the end of the day. None of us knew wed be out of session in the afternoon or evening. Matter of fact, the republican members yesterday had no notion we were going to be out of here. By the same token we have a number of family members and nominees before us who were preparing and traveled some distance to get here and reasonable to request members unless something pressing occurred from 5 00 yesterday afternoon to today, its more pressing than a judicial nomination hearing, i think it is appropriate and i think the and move forward and welcome those here today. Without my comments withstanding, its important to have this. Move on ant to do is and introduce the nominees on and of the two panels introduce mr. Shelby for your comments. Senator coons and members of the committee. I want to thank you for holding this hearing today in view of what happened yesterday. Today we have of course here the first of what i hope will be five more
District Court
nominees in my state of alabama, ann marie axon. I have the high honor to recommend such restrains will not be here today, he recommends and backs her all the way on this. Ann marie is a member of the
Birmingham Law Firm
ratley and brandt and litigates in front of the trial and
Appellate Court
and before joining the firm was a assistant
Vice President
of the bank and an associate of a rhode island firm and immediately after graduating from law school at the university of alabama, she served as a law clerk to the
Federal District
judge inga johnson in the
Northern District
of alabama and also received her undergraduate degree from the university of alabama and is married to a distinguished lawyer in her own right and has a couple children but shes been involved not only as a lawyer but has been involved in the community as president of the ymca junior board, president of the girls on the run board of directors and a member of her communitys
Foundation Board
and a member of the
American Cancer Society
where shes toiled for many years. I recommend her to this
Committee Without
any reservation. I think shell be a distinguished and outstanding
Federal District
young. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator shelby and is the case with all the other senators before us. I know you have other commitments scheduled and please feel free to leave as appropriate. Senior senator from
North Carolina
, senator byrd. Senator byrd to all my colleagues on this committee, im pleased to appear before you today to voice my unwavering support for thomas farr to serve as judge of the
United States
District Court
for the
Eastern District
of
North Carolina
. I also want to at this time welcome his wife ann farr who is here today. Mr. Farrs legal career includes more achievements than this committee has time to hear this morning. But i do want to give you some hileds of that. He earned his j. D. From
Emery University
and received his l. L. M. From
Georgetown University
and following law school graduation, he had the same title as some in this room have, council for the
Senate Committee
. As he served on the
Senate Committee
on labor and human resources, he then served as a staff attorney to the office of personnel management, followed by a clerkship for judge
Frank Bullock
jr. In the
United States
District Court
, middle district of
North Carolina
. After his clerkship, mr. Farr stayed in
North Carolina
where he had an accomplished legal career in private practice, working on issues of constitutional law and workplace safety. Hes represented both business and workers in his employment practice. Hes argued before the
Supreme Court
. Hes received numerous honors for his work, including being named a
North Carolina
superlawyer annually since 2006, being named a fellow with the college of labor and employment lawyers and most cently receiving a recommendation to serve on the bar association. Hes a man that gives back to his community. Currently serving as a board member of the soup and kitchen in raleigh,
North Carolina
. The
Committee Received
letters of support from his nomination from individuals of both parties. Knowing him personally, i can ttest he has the requisite expertise required for the bench and he earned the right to serve as federal judge and who understands the privilege of receiving this appointment. He will serve honorly and its my hope hell get a swift confirmation by this committee and the
United States
senate. Senator till us, let me add at the end, most important thing is tom farr is a good man and i think what woe look for are good people to serve in the capacity of district judge. He fills every piece of the word good and i thank the chair. Senator isaacson. Chairman hatch, its a pleasure to have your courtesy and im delighted to join the junior senator, including two georgians who have been nominated and id like to talk to you for a minute about billy ray from
Gwinnett County
, georgia, served on the
Georgia State
senate and went from there to the superior court of
Gwinnett County
and from there to the court of appeals from the state of georgia and has been an outstanding participant of the bench all those times and whats interesting is the family has a deep and storied tradition in terms of
Public Service
. The family includes two democratic rays, one richard rays served 10 years as representative of district 3 ins congressman of the
United States
of georgia and robert ray, one of my best friends who served in the
Georgia State
house of represents as well and the tradition of
Public Service
in the ray family and also has a tradition of getting the job done. When he served in the state senate he created heidis law, wrote it, pushed through and passed it, the most significant form of d. U. I. Laws which today is a landmark and recognized around the country. Equally well he was an innovator on the bench. He created the judge court in
Gwinnett County
which in georgia was a step forward in deal be with the first time offender with narcotic and drug violations to get them right on the backtrack and in life. Hes a leader and has been a leader on the bench in georgia and will be a leader on the bench in the
United States
of america. Im pleased to commend billy to you with my highest recommendation. Equally as well michael brown. I guess we do both at the same time, is that correct . Mike sell a great lawyer from georgia and former federal prosecutor and has a great experience to gauge both sides of the bench and has a great life practice in all hes done. A graduate of the maris school in atlanta, later
Georgetown University
here in washington and a graduate of the law school of georgia in athens. He clerked for judge edmondson in the
United States
court of appeals in 1994 and 1995 in the 11th circuit and before any
Government Service
he spent four years in litigating associate at the storied law firm of king and spalding which among other things produced people like griffin bell, sam nun and larry thompson, all known to each of you on this committee as outstanding jurists from the state of georgia and served six years as assisting the
United States
attorney for georgia and florida and tried more than 25 cases in oregon appeals for the bench. Current
Equity Partner
in a great atlanta firm, named by chamber u. S. A. As one of americas leading lawyers for business law. He served on the editorial and
Management Board
of the georgia law review and outstanding citizen of our state and i commend him at my highest recommendation. Thank you, senator isaacson, senator purdue. Senator till us and koonce,
Committee Members
senator tillis and senator coons, its my honor to introduce two outstanding members to fill two vacancies, mr. Mike brown and judge billy ray. Ill be brief and not echo what the senior senator from georgia has just none to introduce these two fine men. Both gentlemen served my state well in various positions throughout the course of their careers. After graduating with honors from the university of school of law in 1984 mike went on to clerk on the
United States
11th circuit and served for six years as assistant
United States
attorney in both the
Northern District
of georgia and the
Southern District
of florida where he tried more than two dozen casings. His career has included stints at two of atlantas most respected law firms, king and spalding as you heard and austin and byrd where he currently serves as cochair of the government and internal investigation team. Judge ray graduated from the university of
Georgia School
of law with honors in 1990 and began his legal career as
Trial Attorney
in laurenceville, georgia. He won a seat in the
United States
senate where he served with distinction as you just heard. After being appointed by former governor roy barnes to fill an unexpired firm for superior
Court Judgeship
in
Gwinnett County
in 2002, judge ray served in that position for 10 years and was a presiding judge for one of our states first treatment courts. Judge ray currently sits on the court of appeals of georgia where hes served since 2012. Im proud to support both of these impressive nominees without investigater reservation and applaud the president for his selection of two qualified and well regarded georgians to fill these seats on the federal bench in my state. This is a high honor, mr. Chairman, to introduce to you both these candidates from georgia. Thank you, chair. Senator tillis senator gardner. Senator gardner as the only westerner on this panel of southerners, im sorry i talk funny. Chairman tillis, great to see you there and
Ranking Member
coons, thanks for the opportunity and chairman grassley and
Ranking Member
feinstein, thank you for your leadership. Its a great opportunity to be here before this committee and an honor and general pleasure to introduce my good friends
Justin Allison
ide and offer my strong support for her confirmation as judge on the
United States
Circuit Court
of appeal for the 10th
Circuit Court
of appeals. Theres no doubt that justice ide is qualified for the position and great to see her entire family here and children i knew when they were little, her husband troy, a great family of public servants. For the past decade shes served as justice on the colorado
Supreme Court
and in 2008 she was overwhelmingly retained by the people of colorado. Prior to her appointment she prepared the state of colorado before the state and federal courts as the states solicitor general. And served as a tenured member on the faculty at the greatest law school in the country, the university of
Colorado School
of law where shes taught courses in constitutional law, legislation and tortes and published scholarly articles on the topics of federalism and tort law. Shes practiced appellate litigation at arnold and porter in denver. Justice ide began her legal career as a law clerk to judge jerry smith on the
United States
Circuit Court
for the fifth circuit and served as law clerk to the
United States
Supreme Court
Justice Clarence
thomas. Prior to attending law school, she was a special assistant and speechwriter for secretary bill bennett. She received her law degree from the university of law school where she was a article director of law review and received her undergraduate from
Circuit Court<\/a> judge on the 10th
Circuit Court<\/a>. Did i get the pronunciation wrong . On the second panel well hear from four nominees to
District Court<\/a>, senator coons, do you ave any opening remarks today . Senator coons thank you to serve alongside you in the
Ranking Member<\/a> in todays confirmation hearing. Id like to almost each of the nominees and families and friends of the
United States<\/a> senate and congratulate you on the nominations and look forward to posing questions to you. The positions to which youve been nominated are important and the federal jude is federal judiciary is bedrock of our democracy. They resolve disputes between real people and determine whether him the freedoms are protected and given the weightiness of their responsibilities and lifetime tenure that comes from a judicial appointment, these are critical for the
American People<\/a> to learn about a nominees record and hear that nominee respond to the questions and for that reason i regret the timing when today many colleagues, particularly some on my side of the aisle could not be here but yesterday the senate finished its legislative business so senators could travel to spend the recess with their families and some are today celebrating rosh hashanah, the jewish new year. I understand there were concerned raised about being unable to attend in light of this schedule and the religious holiday and ask the hearing to be postponed. Hearings like today are a key tool for evaluating nominees for judgeships and carrying out the senates responsibility for carrying out out constitution to provide advice and consent and why its extraordinary for the hearing to be held when the senate is not in session particularly over the objections of several minority members. It did not happen previouslyly and is not business as usual. Today we will consider a nominee to serve on the 10th circuit who
President Trump<\/a> previously listed as nominee for the
Supreme Court<\/a> and we have a
District Court<\/a> nominee for the longest open vacancy in the country, a vacancy the
Previous Administration<\/a> attempted to address twice. I know my colleague from
North Carolina<\/a> supports this nominee but i would respectfully note the nominee is opposed by several groups including the congressional black caucus. I wish, as i said, we could have proceeded at this hearing at a time more of my colleagues could have attended. Its important we continue to function as a committee consistent with the senates institutional norms and traditions. Let me briefly also say a word about a long held tradition of this community, the blue slip. In recent weeks ive seen reports questioning this century old tradition, the blue slip ensures senators republicans and democrats alike, get to weigh in on judges nominated from their home state. These blue slip practices were honored by chairman leahy and honored by chairman grassley. If a senator does not return a supportive blue slip, that nominee did not proceed to a hearing in the committee over much of the last century. This is not a partisan issue. And in my view, a different president might have made different nominations to the same judicial vacancies and in certain cases home state senators have objected and those objections were respected. I can live with that as long as the tradition applies equally to both sides no matter who occupies the white house and all of us should be afforded the opportunity to ensure home state senators are nominated and we should
Work Together<\/a> in a bipartisan way to uphold this long tradition of this important body and a component part of how this committee serves its order. And i look forward to hearing you. I promise you as soon as my glasses get here i will not produce any other words or names for the remainder of this hearing. Last week any scheduler put this hearing on my calendar. D on monday night i had full expectations i would be working because we were scheduled to the end of the day. None of us knew wed be out of session in the afternoon or evening. Matter of fact, the republican members yesterday had no notion we were going to be out of here. By the same token we have a number of family members and nominees before us who were preparing and traveled some distance to get here and reasonable to request members unless something pressing occurred from 5 00 yesterday afternoon to today, its more pressing than a judicial nomination hearing, i think it is appropriate and i think the and move forward and welcome those here today. Without my comments withstanding, its important to have this. Move on ant to do is and introduce the nominees on and of the two panels introduce mr. Shelby for your comments. Senator coons and members of the committee. I want to thank you for holding this hearing today in view of what happened yesterday. Today we have of course here the first of what i hope will be five more
District Court<\/a> nominees in my state of alabama, ann marie axon. I have the high honor to recommend such restrains will not be here today, he recommends and backs her all the way on this. Ann marie is a member of the
Birmingham Law Firm<\/a> ratley and brandt and litigates in front of the trial and
Appellate Court<\/a> and before joining the firm was a assistant
Vice President<\/a> of the bank and an associate of a rhode island firm and immediately after graduating from law school at the university of alabama, she served as a law clerk to the
Federal District<\/a> judge inga johnson in the
Northern District<\/a> of alabama and also received her undergraduate degree from the university of alabama and is married to a distinguished lawyer in her own right and has a couple children but shes been involved not only as a lawyer but has been involved in the community as president of the ymca junior board, president of the girls on the run board of directors and a member of her communitys
Foundation Board<\/a> and a member of the
American Cancer Society<\/a> where shes toiled for many years. I recommend her to this
Committee Without<\/a> any reservation. I think shell be a distinguished and outstanding
Federal District<\/a> young. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator shelby and is the case with all the other senators before us. I know you have other commitments scheduled and please feel free to leave as appropriate. Senior senator from
North Carolina<\/a>, senator byrd. Senator byrd to all my colleagues on this committee, im pleased to appear before you today to voice my unwavering support for thomas farr to serve as judge of the
United States<\/a>
District Court<\/a> for the
Eastern District<\/a> of
North Carolina<\/a>. I also want to at this time welcome his wife ann farr who is here today. Mr. Farrs legal career includes more achievements than this committee has time to hear this morning. But i do want to give you some hileds of that. He earned his j. D. From
Emery University<\/a> and received his l. L. M. From
Georgetown University<\/a> and following law school graduation, he had the same title as some in this room have, council for the
Senate Committee<\/a>. As he served on the
Senate Committee<\/a> on labor and human resources, he then served as a staff attorney to the office of personnel management, followed by a clerkship for judge
Frank Bullock<\/a> jr. In the
United States<\/a>
District Court<\/a>, middle district of
North Carolina<\/a>. After his clerkship, mr. Farr stayed in
North Carolina<\/a> where he had an accomplished legal career in private practice, working on issues of constitutional law and workplace safety. Hes represented both business and workers in his employment practice. Hes argued before the
Supreme Court<\/a>. Hes received numerous honors for his work, including being named a
North Carolina<\/a> superlawyer annually since 2006, being named a fellow with the college of labor and employment lawyers and most cently receiving a recommendation to serve on the bar association. Hes a man that gives back to his community. Currently serving as a board member of the soup and kitchen in raleigh,
North Carolina<\/a>. The
Committee Received<\/a> letters of support from his nomination from individuals of both parties. Knowing him personally, i can ttest he has the requisite expertise required for the bench and he earned the right to serve as federal judge and who understands the privilege of receiving this appointment. He will serve honorly and its my hope hell get a swift confirmation by this committee and the
United States<\/a> senate. Senator till us, let me add at the end, most important thing is tom farr is a good man and i think what woe look for are good people to serve in the capacity of district judge. He fills every piece of the word good and i thank the chair. Senator isaacson. Chairman hatch, its a pleasure to have your courtesy and im delighted to join the junior senator, including two georgians who have been nominated and id like to talk to you for a minute about billy ray from
Gwinnett County<\/a>, georgia, served on the
Georgia State<\/a> senate and went from there to the superior court of
Gwinnett County<\/a> and from there to the court of appeals from the state of georgia and has been an outstanding participant of the bench all those times and whats interesting is the family has a deep and storied tradition in terms of
Public Service<\/a>. The family includes two democratic rays, one richard rays served 10 years as representative of district 3 ins congressman of the
United States<\/a> of georgia and robert ray, one of my best friends who served in the
Georgia State<\/a>house of represents as well and the tradition of
Public Service<\/a> in the ray family and also has a tradition of getting the job done. When he served in the state senate he created heidis law, wrote it, pushed through and passed it, the most significant form of d. U. I. Laws which today is a landmark and recognized around the country. Equally well he was an innovator on the bench. He created the judge court in
Gwinnett County<\/a> which in georgia was a step forward in deal be with the first time offender with narcotic and drug violations to get them right on the backtrack and in life. Hes a leader and has been a leader on the bench in georgia and will be a leader on the bench in the
United States<\/a> of america. Im pleased to commend billy to you with my highest recommendation. Equally as well michael brown. I guess we do both at the same time, is that correct . Mike sell a great lawyer from georgia and former federal prosecutor and has a great experience to gauge both sides of the bench and has a great life practice in all hes done. A graduate of the maris school in atlanta, later
Georgetown University<\/a> here in washington and a graduate of the law school of georgia in athens. He clerked for judge edmondson in the
United States<\/a> court of appeals in 1994 and 1995 in the 11th circuit and before any
Government Service<\/a> he spent four years in litigating associate at the storied law firm of king and spalding which among other things produced people like griffin bell, sam nun and larry thompson, all known to each of you on this committee as outstanding jurists from the state of georgia and served six years as assisting the
United States<\/a> attorney for georgia and florida and tried more than 25 cases in oregon appeals for the bench. Current
Equity Partner<\/a> in a great atlanta firm, named by chamber u. S. A. As one of americas leading lawyers for business law. He served on the editorial and
Management Board<\/a> of the georgia law review and outstanding citizen of our state and i commend him at my highest recommendation. Thank you, senator isaacson, senator purdue. Senator till us and koonce,
Committee Members<\/a> senator tillis and senator coons, its my honor to introduce two outstanding members to fill two vacancies, mr. Mike brown and judge billy ray. Ill be brief and not echo what the senior senator from georgia has just none to introduce these two fine men. Both gentlemen served my state well in various positions throughout the course of their careers. After graduating with honors from the university of school of law in 1984 mike went on to clerk on the
United States<\/a> 11th circuit and served for six years as assistant
United States<\/a> attorney in both the
Northern District<\/a> of georgia and the
Southern District<\/a> of florida where he tried more than two dozen casings. His career has included stints at two of atlantas most respected law firms, king and spalding as you heard and austin and byrd where he currently serves as cochair of the government and internal investigation team. Judge ray graduated from the university of
Georgia School<\/a> of law with honors in 1990 and began his legal career as
Trial Attorney<\/a> in laurenceville, georgia. He won a seat in the
United States<\/a> senate where he served with distinction as you just heard. After being appointed by former governor roy barnes to fill an unexpired firm for superior
Court Judgeship<\/a> in
Gwinnett County<\/a> in 2002, judge ray served in that position for 10 years and was a presiding judge for one of our states first treatment courts. Judge ray currently sits on the court of appeals of georgia where hes served since 2012. Im proud to support both of these impressive nominees without investigater reservation and applaud the president for his selection of two qualified and well regarded georgians to fill these seats on the federal bench in my state. This is a high honor, mr. Chairman, to introduce to you both these candidates from georgia. Thank you, chair. Senator tillis senator gardner. Senator gardner as the only westerner on this panel of southerners, im sorry i talk funny. Chairman tillis, great to see you there and
Ranking Member<\/a> coons, thanks for the opportunity and chairman grassley and
Ranking Member<\/a> feinstein, thank you for your leadership. Its a great opportunity to be here before this committee and an honor and general pleasure to introduce my good friends
Justin Allison<\/a> ide and offer my strong support for her confirmation as judge on the
United States<\/a>
Circuit Court<\/a> of appeal for the 10th
Circuit Court<\/a> of appeals. Theres no doubt that justice ide is qualified for the position and great to see her entire family here and children i knew when they were little, her husband troy, a great family of public servants. For the past decade shes served as justice on the colorado
Supreme Court<\/a> and in 2008 she was overwhelmingly retained by the people of colorado. Prior to her appointment she prepared the state of colorado before the state and federal courts as the states solicitor general. And served as a tenured member on the faculty at the greatest law school in the country, the university of
Colorado School<\/a> of law where shes taught courses in constitutional law, legislation and tortes and published scholarly articles on the topics of federalism and tort law. Shes practiced appellate litigation at arnold and porter in denver. Justice ide began her legal career as a law clerk to judge jerry smith on the
United States<\/a>
Circuit Court<\/a> for the fifth circuit and served as law clerk to the
United States<\/a>
Supreme Court<\/a>
Justice Clarence<\/a> thomas. Prior to attending law school, she was a special assistant and speechwriter for secretary bill bennett. She received her law degree from the university of law school where she was a article director of law review and received her undergraduate from
Harvard University<\/a> graduating as a member of phi beta kappa. What her resume makes clear is whatever justice ide does she does it at the highest and best levels. Indeed with, the
National Native<\/a>
American Bar Association<\/a> noted she has significantly more experience with indian law cases than any other recent
Circuit Court<\/a> nominee. She even does being a nominee at the highest level. As impressive as her credentials, its her demeanor and approach to the law that makes her ideally suit for the court. Shice been called a mainstream westerner and been noted as fiercely independent and will died cases as she believes the law requires. At the same time she seeks out different view points and wants to understand all sides of each issue she addresses. Thats the professor i know from my days as a student at the youve of colorado law school. I can say from personal experience while justice ide has her perspectives on the law she has and does care deeply about robust debates and hearing the reviews of others and know from my classmates that didnt share her perspectives that she was open to their views and engaging with them and never biased against different perspectives and i know independent jurists her former clerks described. She will follow the law regardless of the popular win, whether discerning the proper role of the courts, the legislative branch or the executive or agencies or evaluating the relationship between the federal government and the states. Justice ide will side with what the law says and will do it in that common sense western way. Its a privilege to introduce justice ide to this committee and look forward to working with you throughout this nomination process and ask for your support and the support of all our colleagues in her timely confirmation. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I thank the senators for being here and himself want to thank and congratulate tom farr on his nomination to serve as
District Court<\/a> judge in the
Eastern District<\/a> of
North Carolina<\/a>. I also want to welcome ann, his wife and i know your family is proud of you and so many friends and colleagues in the state of
North Carolina<\/a> are as well. Id also like to thank chairman grassley and his staff for working with senator burr and me to schedule todays hearing and thank the president for consulting with our offices in nominating mr. Farr to fulfill this important judicial vacancy. Enator burr discussed timeso toms education, back ground and experience and want to get to some aspects not covered. When nominees come before this committee its our job as senators to evaluate whether the nominee has the appropriate temperament and requisite qualifications to uphold the constitution, apply and interpret the law faithfully and serve the court with integrity. Anyone who wants to serve on the bench must be intelligent, ethical, impartial and objective. Tom farr clearly meets these criteria. Hes been evaluated by the
American Bar Association<\/a> twice, both times unanimously receiving well qualified ratings, the highest ratings they offer. Many members refer to the ranking as well qualified as the
Gold Standard<\/a> for evaluating whether a nominee is qualified to serve on the bench. I think getting this ranking on two different occasions speaks volumes for toms qualifications and hes widely respected as one of the best legal minds in
North Carolina<\/a> and is consistently recognized by his peers as an elite lawyer. He has sterling credentials and will be fair to all parties that come before him and i have no doubt hell apply this law faithfully. Lawyers who work with tom are struck not only by his intellect but fair ness and respectfulness. All parties on both sides. Thats why he holds widespread support from so many people. Many people were at an opposing position. Tom is unquestionably capable of serving the people of
North Carolina<\/a> and will be an honorable and fair judge. I want to thank chairman grassley for holding this hearing and thank tom for his hard work that led him to this point and i want to congratulate both him and ann and all the nominees for being here today. Now, with that well call for the first nominee. Ms. Ides. I said ide. I want to make sure i pronounce it right because after you make that mistake you tend to make it again and i thought about the ides of march, less the s. Thats what i tell them. Thank you for being here today. Before you sit down, if you will please remain standing to be sworn in, do you affirm the testimony youre about to give before the committee will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god . Thank you. You may sit. And you have an opportunity to make an
Opening Statement<\/a> and introduce any friends and family who is in the room. We ask that you try to keep your statement to the extent you need it to about five minutes it. Thank you. Thank you. It is a real privilege and pleasure to be here today. I want to begin by thank you, chairman tillis and
Ranking Member<\/a> coons for inviting me, also. I want to thank chairman grassley and
Ranking Member<\/a> feinstein and all the members of the committee for taking the time to have me appear today. I would also like to thank
President Trump<\/a> for the privilege of this nomination. And id like to thank senator gardner for that kind introduction. I do not have an
Opening Statement<\/a> today but would like to introduce my family, if i may. First directly behind me i have my husband troy eid. He is my husband of 28 years, just celebrated our wedding anniversary. Hes a former u. S. Attorney for colorado. And he also made extraordinary efforts to be here today because hes going around on a knee scooter, having just had achilles surgery. I know. It was terrible. So i really want to thank him for being here today because he really it was a rough trip. Id like to introduce our children, alex and emily. Alex is about to be a third year at the university of chicago. He is double majoring in physics and east asian languages. And i know you might ask how did two lawyers produce a physicist, and thats something that we wonder ourselves but were so proud of him. Then we have our daughter emily who is a sophomore, honor student in high school, and she is a beautiful dancer and artist. And we have my motherinlaw, troys mom, sandy, former junior high science teacher. And on this side we have my mom, janey from green acres, washington, no joke. She raised two daughters by herself under some pretty adverse circumstances and she worked incredibly hard and made a lot of sacrifices. And really what i want to do today is just say thanks, mom. Then we have my sister amy who is an amazing architect in los angeles, specializing in affordable housing. Then we have ramona who is my stepmother in law who is our computer whiz in the family. So thank you so much for coming and i want to thank everybody who is here who i wasnt able to introduce for being here and supporting me. Thank you, justice eid. Justice eid, if confirmed youll be taking this seat, now justice gore century justice es itch, when he was in this justice gorsuch, he said it was his job to interpret and apply the law and our job, congress job to craft and write the law. Is this consistent with your views on separation of powers . Justice eid absolutely. As a judge is it your job to remedy poorly crafted legislation . No, i do not. During
Justice Gorsuchs<\/a> confirmation there was discussion of ruling in favor of the big guy instead of the little guy. Do you side with the big guy or little guy when youre considering cases . No, i do not. Can you go a little further into that . Yes. I took the oath for my current position sitting on the colorado
Supreme Court<\/a> and i can tell you the oath says that i promise to obey the laws and constitution of the
United States<\/a> and the laws and constitution of the state of colorado. And what that means to me is that i need to follow the law wherever it takes me regardless of who the parties are, regardless of other considerations, i need to follow the law. And i have worked very hard in the 11 1 2 years to obey that oath. And if i were so fortunate to be confirmed to the 10th circuit, i would obey the oath and continue that i want to ask you a question about when your faithfully interpreting and applying the law it can sometimes result in a unpopular outcome and may result in a outdo you wish were different. How do you handle that as a judge . Thank so you much for that question. There is no doubt that there are some very, very difficult me that have come before in my 11 1 2 years and certainly my husband knows i come home and ugh, thats a hard case. I have to ell tell you its my job to set that aside. And to look at the law and the facts of the case and to follow the law where it takes me. And i really have to set
Everything Else<\/a> aside and obey the oath i took and follow the law. Thank you. And some individuals argue the
United States<\/a> constitution is a living document. Subject to different interpretations as society changes, do you subscribe to this point of view [ thank you, senator, for that question. Actually bleeven my believe my judicial philosophy is to follow the law. I dont come with preconceived labels to that. I read the briefs carefully and consult with my colleagues, talk to my law clerks, many former law clerks are here today so they can vouch for that. And i try very hard to go where the law takes me, and thats what i do in every case. One other question, what do you think do you believe judicial activism is something that is real, and do you consider it appropriate . Again, thank you for that question. Serve with y that i seven other justices. And they are incredible, and i so value what they do. I think every member of our court approaches the law in good faith and does the best they can and they follow the law as well. So i would say judges are people are good faith and they apply the law and it may end up taking them to a different place than where ient up. I think they approach the law fairly and impartially. My final question, one i want im not an attorney so i always find it remarkable when we have legal experts here and give yes, no answers to yes no questions. My last question to you is one that actually could be a straightforward one within my remaining time. Do you think impartiality is an aspiration or expectation of a judge . I think its an expectation. I think again, you take an oath to be impartial. You have to be impartial. Hats a requirement. Sometimes people say its aspirational because we have to remind ourselves every day we fair o work we need to be and impartial and every day its an expectation and you need to do it as a judge. Thank you. Senator coons. Senator coons, thank you, senator tillis. Congratulations on raising two remarkable daughters and troy, congratulations on apparently successfully raising wonderful children. It was great to hear the introduction of your family and get a sense of the scope and reach of your work both professionally and personally and im encouraged particularly regionally that you come to this opportunity with some expertise in water law and native american law, areas that are not often subject matters area of expertise. Let me dive in a couple cases. As solicitor general of colorado you submitted a brief arguing the state should use evidence found in a home searched without a warrant. Even when the defendant objected to the search vigorously because a cooccupant i think in this case, spouse, allowed the police in over the objection of the defendant. Given the
Supreme Court<\/a> disagreed with your argument do you recognize your republicanning is correct or is there a concern on your part to allow the position youre taking on behalf of your client and in fact the search was a violation of the
Fourth Amendment<\/a> rights, how do you understand this line of cases, miller versus colorado was yours but joined with others in the
Supreme Court<\/a> . Thank so you much for that question, senator. As you mentioned, i was defending the position taken by my client, the state of colorado and in this particular case, the 10th circuit follows and that cedent cause was taken to the
Supreme Court<\/a> and held for georgia versus randolph you were referring to. At that point there was a split in authority about how a defendant and a cooccupant, as you suggest, what roles do they play in giving consent . The
Supreme Court<\/a> strained it out for us, resolved the split and said hey, if that defendant is there protesting, you cant search. And i am committed to following precedent and would follow that precedent if so fortunate to be onfirmed to this position. There were two decisions in your record narrowly construing miller versus alabama which is a
Supreme Court<\/a> case holding that sentencing a juvenile to mandatory life without parole is unconstitutional. In lucera versus people, you held that aggregate term of year sentences would still be permissible even if the sentences add up to a mandatory life sentence. It struck me here not just because the outcome would continue to allow juveniles to be sentenced to life without parole because it was unnecessary to reach the issue. The juvenile issue was going to be eligible for parole so why did you reach this result in when concurrence would have decided the case on narrower grounds, so im getting to the substance of the decision but also the choice to reach a broader question . Justice eid thank you so much for that question. I actually wrote the majority r majority of my court in that case. We actually thought the narrower ground was to consider the aggregate term of years being stacked. We thought that was a narrower position before going into the fact of each case, so just to tell you thats how we viewed it, so i think we absolutely in that opinion respect the
Supreme Court<\/a> precedent and we describe its boundaries and didnt think it applicable to stack sentences but we certainly were following
Supreme Court<\/a> precedent and thought we were going on the narrowest ground. Senator coons let me ask you to invite taxpayers education versus douglas county. You wrote a partial descent on the fact the county run
School Voucher<\/a> program did not amount to funding of a religiously affiliated school. In this particular instance out of 120
High Schoolers<\/a> who used the vouchers, 119 of them did so in order to attend a religiously affiliated school. You said the program was neutral as to religion and only aided religion indirectly as a result of choices of private individuals. I view it as true and wonder if you agree a neutral law can be passed with the intention to aid or discriminate for or against religion. Why was the facial neutrality of this program dispositive here and why was it the critical turning point for your decision . Justice eid thank you so much for asking. I have to preface my answer with the fact that that case is actually in front of me. It went to the
United States<\/a>
Supreme Court<\/a>. It withheld for the entire case and then the majority opinion, which i did not join, but that has been vacated and returned to our court. So i can speak to my dissent but cant go beyond that because again, its a pending case before us. Im sitting on the court right now and thats my current job. So i have to preface my remark with that. That being said, i did write a dissent in that case. I pointed out that the funds in that ways were going to the parent, not to the school, so that was my first point but i also said and the primary focus of my dissent was the majority was interpreting or applying our constitutional provision in our constitution that says that there can be no aid to
Religious School<\/a>s and they applied the plain meaning of that and said this is funds going to a
Religious School<\/a> and at that point i took exception and said you cant in a ligious clause case simply apply the plain meaning, you have to go behind the words and theres a streak court case koomyebobaloomey, i wanted to say that today, that says you have to look at whats going on here and whats the intent behind the words. I followed that case in my dissent. Thank you, justice. Senator hatch . Senator hatch thank you, chairman. Justice eid, welcome to the committee. Were happy to have you here and the debate over your nomination is about the kind of judge you will be. We want impartial judges that follow a fair process in making decisions. Your critics want political judges who produce certain results by whatever means necessary. Left wing groups, for example, cant stand it whenever a corporation wins, period. Its just almost always the case. One group cited a case before you in which a corporation won as a department and one in which a corporation won as a plaintiff. How terrible can it be . Its as if the facts or the law in each case dont matter at all. Isnt a judge supposed to impartially interpret and apply the law to the facts no matter which side wins . Justice eid i agree with that and strongly believe in it. Again, i have been a judge, its been such an incredible privilege and a pleasure to serve the state of colorado for the last 11 1 2 years and if you look at my record, i have participated in almost 00 cases and have written almost 100 myself. And if you look at that whole record, i would come to the conclusion that i look at the law, i look at the facts and apply that fairly and impartially to the parties before me regardless who the parties are. Senator hatch who believes if the law and not the judge decides each case . Justice eid when you take the oath you realize its not about you, the judge, its about the law and you follow the law and thats your job. Senator hatch your critics dont like your opinion in regents of the
University Colorado<\/a> versus students for concealed carry on campus. Why . Justice e imblings d i dont know. I can tell you about that opinion, though. Its sort of a presemmings preemption case, which level of government should be able to govern firearms in colorado and the
General Assembly<\/a> passed legislation regarding concealed carry and then listed
Government Entities<\/a> who could also chime in and have
Regulatory Authority<\/a> and they did not list the university of colorado or any colleges. So that was a 70 opinion out of my court that we wrote. We all agreed and i think any of you who are familiar with the colorado
Supreme Court<\/a> will know we are not shy about expressing our opinions. We dissent senator hatch
Unanimous Court<\/a> decision. Justice eid very unanimous, 70 on a very diverse court. Senate hatch i think you explained your legal issue and whether your own opinion about gun shoes make any difference. Should it make any difference . Justice eid no, not at all. Senator hatch your critics claim you decide cases based on a personal agenda. One group did not like your 2011 dissent in people versus schiller. Saying that you wrote it, quote, in order to empower the police to engage in constitutionally prohibited activities, unquote. Is that true . Justice eid again, i dont look at the parties in front of me. I just need to decide based on the facts and the law. Senator hatch one
Left Wing Group<\/a> looked at the cases involving federalism and claimed you are, quote, bent on undermining the ability of the federal government to protect the
American People<\/a>, unquote. Is that your agenda . Justice eid i think they were relying on my earlier academic writings. I can tell you im not telling the federal government what to do as a state court judge at all. In my earlier writings, i actually talked about a series of cases out of the
United States<\/a>
Supreme Court<\/a>, the court at that time, as you know, was putting some boundaries around the
Commerce Clause<\/a> and my academics writings suggested that we need to
Pay Attention<\/a> to what the
United States<\/a>
Supreme Court<\/a> is doing, and i actually said maybe nows the time for congress to look at some of the other enumerated powers that could serve as a basis for regulation. So i dont think that description accurately reflects my writing. Senator hatch i can give you more examples but your critics want political judges but youre an impartial judge as far as i can see, everything youve done has been a matter of being impartial and your record tells me you would rather be legally correct than politically correct. So i commend you. I applaud you for that. And i enthusiastically support your nomination and i think youre precisely the type of person we should have on the federal bench. Justice eid thank you. Senator white house. Senator white house thank you, chairman. Let me join my colleagues in expressing our disappointment, i guess, that this hearing is
Going Forward<\/a> at a time when the senate is not in session. I believe its the
First Time Ever<\/a> that a hearing has been brought forward under these circumstances with a lot of senators not even in town because the senate is not in session that was not agreed to by the minority. O this is a somewhat novel discourtesy in this committee and i hope that we cannot make it too much of a pattern to be scheduling hearings when the senate is not in session and senators are not out of town in order to push nominees through the committee. Know that it is the accepted cartoon papulum of this committee these days that judges are just neutral siphers who come in and apply the facts to the law, wash their hands and then move on to the next opinion list and policy list application of the law to the facts. I think anybody who has practiced law knows that is not actually the way adjudicating works. And i think the twoword rebuttle to anybody who says garland. Ue is merick if there were nothing to this business other than assessing the qualifications of an individual to, without any personal, professional, political ideological, philosophical, economic or other personal point of view to clear al facts and simple law then why did this committee for the give merick garland even a hearing. Why the massive effort to hold that
Supreme Court<\/a> open until somebody who is otherwise disposed could be shoved on to that eat . He notion that this is just i mean, it stuns me to think fiction opagate that so readily hear. We will see with judge eid, the record is everybody rallies around the judges of their party and i dont think anybody has been slow to stop yet so i assume we are at the beginning of another judicial ram rod here and i hope that over time we will see that some of the concerns we have, which are often not the fault of the candidate but not the fault of the nominee but the fault of whats been said about the process and whats been said by
President Trump<\/a>. It seems to me that when we look at what is expected of republican nominees, its a pretty
Traditional Group<\/a> of requirements, first of all that you support dark money in lections, second that you have a very skeptical view of womens rights particularly when it comes to reproductive rights. Thirds, that you have a very skeptical view of any limitations on the use of guns and a very skeptical view about whether limiting peoples access to gun is a good idea. And finally, that youre very skeptical view of the governments ability to protect the general public through its
Regulatory Authority<\/a> which all happened to line nicely with the presence of the fossil fuel industry and the religious right and the firearms industry and the chemical and
Banking Industries<\/a> and other important supporters of the republican party. So i think there is more to this than just these bland at the same times, im just going to apply the law to the facts. We probably wouldnt be having these guys or even having this hearing in an unpress consented way without the position of the minority while the senate were not in session if there were not
Something Else<\/a> going on. I just wanted to make that point. Let me ask our nominee, you were asked a question about judicial activism, was brown versus board of education a act of ago chris im . Justice eid what i can tell you is its a long established precedence of the
United States<\/a>
Supreme Court<\/a>. And i get looking back on it precedent requires you follow it and every candidate will say theyre obliged to follow precedent. We hear this fairly constantly so thats not news to you. My question is at the time it was decided, was it judicial activism . Justice eid again, its not my place to say anything about it. Im obligated to follow it in my current position on the colorado
Supreme Court<\/a> and if i were so fortunate to be to the 10th circuit, i would follow it, its a longstanding precedent of the
United States<\/a>
Supreme Court<\/a>. Senator white house, id be happy to entertain a second round. Just for the record im not a lawyer so president might mean
Something Different<\/a> in legal parlance but i would remind all the members of the committee that january 9 and 12, 2005, february 21,2008, april 16, 2010 were all instances where the
Judiciary Committee<\/a> convened when we were not in session to consider nominations. Id also like to point out, if i may finish, id also like to point out that the senate has been in session for 11 legislative days since the end of august. This hearing was noticed a week early and until last night every
Single Member<\/a> of the u. S. Senate had on their calendar this hearing. I think theres at least one physics student who is not in class today and a number of people who probably have nonrefundable tickets and travel great distances and is one reason among many i thank the chair for moving forward. I understand senators lee and kennedy have been advised without objection will move to senator grassley in the order. Senator grassley . Senator grassley youve been on the colorado
Supreme Court<\/a> for a long time. How is this experience helped prepare you for the federal
Circuit Court<\/a> and what do you anticipate being most difficult about a transition if you are confirmed . Justice eid thank for you that question. As i mentioned earlier, it has a privilege to serve the people of colorado for 11 1 2 years. Its amazing its been that long. I have participated in maybe 900 cases we estimated and have written almost 100 of them. And written almost a hundred separate opinions. So i think that is a huge amount of experience to bring to the 10th circuit in terms of skiing deciding cases, looking at the briefs, talking to my colleagues, talking to my clerks, thinking very, very hard about these cases and really going where the law takes me in each case and thats my duty. So i think thats an experience that i will bring with me. I also have experience in a wide variety of areas. One, as administrative tasks im chair of the
Water Committee<\/a> in colorado so i have experience in not only substantive water cases but how those cases proceed. I think that will be important. Ive also written some opinions in indian law which is another area i think important to the west and very important to the 10th circuit. So i hope to bring that substantive expertise, too, to the 10th circuit. Its going to be if im so fortunate to be confirmed it will be different. Ive focused on colorado. This is a vast the 10th circumstance sit a vast area, a multistate area so that will be different. And i also think it will certainly there will be different challenges presented by federal law im not familiar with. So i am excited with the prospect and so honored to be nominated. I understand from your history youve been very involved with your community. In what ways has the work youve done outside of the courtroom impacted how you view the role of a judge . And why do you believe its important for lawyers to be involved and engaged in the communicatey . Justice eid thank you so much for that question. I think one of the wonderful things about being on the colorado
Supreme Court<\/a> is that we have our adjudicative hat, i would describe it cases we describe and we decide, but we also have our administrative hat where we are really looking at the system and were seeing how the system impacts peoples lives and one of the things ive worked on very hard is making our courts more accessible to litigants who are not represented in my capacity as chair and liaison to many rules committees. Weve looked at how those rules can be interpreted by lay people who are not lawyers. Weve worked very hard to make the system more accessible. And its been a big priority to give a shoutout to our chief
Justice Nancy<\/a> rice, that we make that a priority in our system, to make sure the system works for everyone who comes through those courthouse doors. So thats certainly a priority of mine and passion of mine and i hope to continue that work. Thank you and congratulations on your nomination by the president. Justice eid thank you. Chairman senator white house and for all members first, i want to try and keep the to the
Time Commitment<\/a> so that we will go to the five minutes. Of course we will allow the justice to respond to questions that are submitted before five minutes but no questions after that. Be happy to entertain a request for a second round. Senator franklin. Enator franken franken. Eid. E eid im that was a very smart beginning. Senator franken justice eidy, id like to talk about policing. In 2010, you participated in people versus vigil its been referred to. This is a case that implicated the exclusionary rule which says generally if the government collects evidence in violation of your
Constitutional Rights<\/a> and the government cannot use that evidence against you in court, this case concerns whether the state should be allowed to use the physical evidence that mr. Vigil gave up in an attempt to stop two
Police Officers<\/a> from beating him so severely he required six hours of medical attention before he even could be questioned. Mr. Vigil was stopped on suspicion of being involved in a drug deal as the police questioned him, mr. Vigil became agitated and raised his voice. He wasnt arrested yet so mr. Vigil attempted to leave at that moment. The
Police Officer<\/a> decided to arrest him. The officer grabbed the back of mr. Vigils shirt and when he tried to shrug him off, the officer responded by punching mr. Vietnammily and breaking bones and he dropped to his knees at which point a second officer pepper sprayed mr. Vigil in the face and struck him three times with a metal baton. Both officers then wrestled him to the ground and pressed their knees into his back and handcuffed him. It was at that point with the weight of the two fully grown men on his back, pepper sprayed and beaten, his broken face pushed into the pavement that mr. Vigil told the officers he had drugs in his left pocket and hoped by confessing to the crime the officers would stop beating him. Mr. Vigil was transported by ambulance to the hospital where he received more than six hours of treatment, as i said. He was then taken to the
Police Station<\/a> by the same officers who had beaten and arrested him at around 2 00 in the morning, those same officers proceeded to interrogate mr. Vigil and after he waived his miranda rights, he made a few statements. Now, recognizing the constitution prohibits the admission of involuntary statements into evidence, the trial court prevented mr. Vigils confession, the judge and his statements at the his department being used against him as evidence. On appeal, the colorado
Supreme Court<\/a> affirmed that decision, is that correct . Justice eid that actually is not correct, sir. What the majority said in that case was the confession was entirely involuntary. And i joined that opinion. I wrote separately, a concurrence in the dissent. I joined the majority saying those are obvious as you recite them, obvious senator franken i said on appeal the colorado
Supreme Court<\/a> affirmed that decision, they didnt. I asked you a simple question. And id like a simple answer. Justice eid ok. Senator franken i said recognizing the constitution prohibits admission of involuntary statements into evidence, the trial court prevented mr. Vigils confession, the drugs and his statements at the
Police Department<\/a> being used against him as evidence. On appeal the colorado
Supreme Court<\/a> affirmed that decision. Is that correct . Justice eid i apologize, that is correct. Senator franken thats ok. It happens. Justice eid, you agreed with the court that both mr. Vigils initial confession and his later estimated were coerced and involuntary and that the
Trial Court Properly<\/a> suppressed them but you parted ways with the majority when it came to the physical evidence, the drugs. The majority reasoned that and his confession was involuntary, the drugs discovered cannot be used as evidence against him. Drugs should have been admitted into evidence. Why . Separate portion. I disagreed and not consider the peoples argument there might be other ground for omitting the evidence. What i asked you about was you disagree. Ich this is my question again. He thought the drug should have been admitted into evidence. Why . Procedural disagreement with the majority. Raceajority stated people separately the issue of the physical evidence. They would have found that to be a viable claim soberly, the majority and i agree on the procedural the majority said they did not consider. A andght they did raise consider that doctrine. And q4 answering. My brother tom sends his regards to both of you. I like to spend some of my time the approach to the law created one thing that has come up is to what extent a judges personal background matters. Sayolleagues would like to theres a lot of discretion. As a result, we need to delve into a nominees personal values to get to the nominees personal ideology and we need to do that before we confirm them. It is going to be what makes all and so someone might be inclined to vote no. Sometimes the aisle, theres a tendency to say we want someone who will interpret someone who makes the law. That one tends to overlook and it is just as bad to be a judicial pacifist as it is to be dicial i think what that sometimes overlooks is it is very understand how someone approaches. A multimembern court tothe appellate which you have been nominated, you will not always agree. It is just the way it works. Works. U disagree, it a seveno on her sit on you come in and think you figure it out and one of your colleagues says i never thought of it that way. A lot of discussion as to whether or not and i approach my very we we are a really respect each other. When of the great traditions, we have a conference on thursday and then we go out to lunch. I have to say it is such a great thing to have other people on your court. Think we pick and choose virtually all our cases. It is very important, but normally we are picking out a big stack. We are picking up the hardest cases out of that group. I when you say you do could outcome a it is not the same as a legislative body. The methodology matters here, saying i like this type of case. I like individuals more than corporations. It is. Oute duking it metaphorically. We are so respectful. We are all doing the same thing and we are looking at the loss and reading the brief. For doing is looking at the law. Listen to allto those other voices out there and i know you will have constituents. We followed of all. That is really our duty. Thank you. Thanks mr. Chairman. Hat to mytip my colleagues. I thought it was an apt description. We may reach different conclusions and so we look for are. S into who you or would she do if faced with a case . We dont know. Anyould not be able to send case in which people come to the same decision over and over. Usn judge gorsuch was before we spent a lot of time asking why he would dissent over those facts. I did not support his nomination and that was one of the reasons. Let me ask you about a case that has a parallel. Court considers the duty. Room sonds rented a they could go out for night on the town and wouldnt have to drive afterwards. A. M. Eturned around 2 00 escorted,re being they said we cant leave because we are drunk, we cannot try. One of the friends asked if they could wait in the lobby because it was freezing outside. Seven people drove off. The driver of the car was junk, got into an accident. One person was killed, others. Ere injured her parents sued the hotel for negligence. Majority at the summary the level of intoxication and the availability of the alternative. Dutygreed the hotel owed a , but you would dismiss the case on a
Summary Judgment<\/a> motion because in our view, they could have just taken a taxi. He said in your dissent, theres toouggestion she was not intoxicated to take a taxi. He said there was no concerned with the printing whether. It is then many years since i audit motion for
Summary Judgment<\/a>. , you argue there is no set of facts by which the hotel could prevail. Clearly, a majority of your court saw it otherwise. They saw this intoxicated woman being denied a taxi. He said you did not want to hear those facts. He said she could have called a taxi. Explain. Theres a critical fact he left out and that is the party tabs cabsting and that was caught on videotape. The hotel had not evicted this firemanto an injurious because the evidence it showed they could have taken a cap. Cab. The majority of your court in thissee the facts plaintiff desert dust observed plaintifft deserved a day in court and you didnt. Out the videotape and base my dissent on that. Want to be sure i understand the case. The plaintiff sued i assume for alleged injury and she the hotel prevent her from calling a cap. That is correct. Wasthat is video taxi onduty . I believe so. Was she driving . Drunk she was voluntarily i assume . Im not sure what the evidence showed. When the su a couple of other questions. About decidingo whether writing is a fundamental right in the u. S. Constitution . Dont be if i was so fortunate soprano would follow
Supreme Court<\/a> president in my spirits, there are no cases of first impression. And i thinkcedent certainly i would look to the u. S. Supreme
Court President<\/a> in trying to understand how they go about determining whether something is a on the mental right. What if you did not find that . In my spirits, theres always precedent. Jimena squarely resolved the question in front of you. You have to somehow make them consistent. That is how i would go about it. Would we have any rights under the
United States<\/a> constitution had the ill rights not been ratified. That is a great question. I would let me put it another way. He used to teach, correct . Is correct. I right now, i would tell them to do that or certainly talk to them. I really challenge students to come up with their own answers ing here i would go about i i point them to the applicable law. Im a biggers believer in this crowd of nothing. Can you tell me something that you think is unconstitutional . Currently a colorado
Supreme Court<\/a> justice. I dont think it is my place to question those laws. Will agreed i with mike and what big said. I think our job. Is to make sure the president does not make a mistake. It is really hard to do that. We cant have interchange in terms of what the law is and what the law should be. I just wanted to explore another case that involves a cell phone levine in the bathroom. I think i understand your dissent. Privacyiewed cell phone. S a boundary area i think the four minute critical and our cell phones contain a vast troth of information. Colorado court of he found the phone had been obtained in essentially, the cell phone owner left it behind, founded often was locked, went to the attendant and he left. There is a majority as to whether that was considered it abandonment. Thank you for that question because it brings me to majority and in that i wrote recognize the expectation of , saying that maybe there is a heightened interest given the amount of private information in the phone and in herrera, i held this. Police claim they could search the entirety of the phone and i rejected that. I recognize the importance of privacy in a phone and asked thee warrants cannot facts matter a lot because the defendant when that to the
Convenience Store<\/a> and said i left my phone and then he left. He did not leave the name or phone number. He never went back to get the ne and that constituted the finest in the facts, he said i want my phone and he left without making further action. How do you see the oppression doctrine and important importance of protecting one of these rights, but often at the cost for making it harder for police to find evidence that times useful . Opinions written many basically saying cap is our colorado
Supreme Court<\/a> precedents. You have to have a warrant. Procedure in colorado that allows the prosecutor to appeal motions to the supreme i think our core puts a high priority on that as well. That doctrine. W you have to have a warrant or exception to a warm. Ease not had an avatar so we will go to you. Onlyderstand your the dissenter in the 2012 colorado
Supreme Court<\/a> case involving the in that case, the had stating our soul is to review and determine whether or not ultimately, balance theund it many constitutional factors in a matter for all citizens. At the same time, it appears to focus solely on the factor which is why the majority went the other way. Can you elaborate on why you voted that and how you food viewed the nature of the
Colorado Task<\/a> . Rc is one of a few that has court involved. Result, truly competitive and i think it makes for delegation that works because it has not been carved out in any way. Could you talk to a this . Thank you to in that instance if you mentioned, there are multiple factors to be considered. My criticism is that the majority did not wait on existing boundaries. Colorado, f have anugh we did not additional fee. There other factors that have been considered. Certainly, theres a whole list of them. I think, they have to release consider all the factors i stated that disruption was given no weight. Here was no evidence i thought that was important factor to look at. Themnk he looked at all of. Really, i thought the majority did not look at that final factor. And i understand your
Academic Work<\/a> has focused on new you ism which including the
Commerce Clause<\/a> one he argued that new federalism can occur. Which struck out part of the balance against women. Notably, these were some of the first physicians to limit congresses authority under the
Commerce Clause<\/a> more than 50 years ago. This is a limited view and some have raised concerns that would jeopardize the federal governments ability to offer civil right and protection. Can you elaborate on the idea of the new federalism and how you interactauthority to. Alls those were articles i wrote as an epidemic. At the same time, the notice states
Supreme Court<\/a> came out with a series dimension, basically saying we are going to adjudicate federalism cases. Before that time, the court had said we are out of this business. We will leave it to the political process and new cases said we are back in the game and we think there are limits and were going to enforce them. Describing what appeared to be a movement in the supreme cases thatjudicate were under federalism concern. So thank you very much. Only taketch i will a minute or two. I want to congratulate you for this nomination. I have heard a lot about you. Say that some cannot be filled due to lack of caseload. I had a chuckle over that one because the same groups in 2013 aggressively pushed filling three vacancies on the
Circuit Court<\/a> of appeals for the which over columbia, the last year more. Its more appeals were found. Other words, the court these leftwing groups oppose you. Filing a vacancy is two to three times busier in a court where they mr. Chairman, i have served on this committee for 40 years. Im still amazed at some of the things people will say with a straight face. All i can say is i have read a lot about your background. I know about your background. You are an excellent choice. You are a terrific legal mind. You have taught the law. You have all kinds of cases they can refer to. You are without question highly respected. I want to just say thanks. Thank you for being of service and being willing to serve on my circuit. Flex thank you, senator. Senator hatch it means a lot to me personally. I dont see how anybody could go against you. Franken, i understand that senator whitehouse can going for you. Senator whitehouse thank you. Just one question. Under what circumstances should a court consider the consequences of its decision. That is a great question. I should say, again, we look at the law and we look at the facts and we go where the law takes us. Senator whitehouse to a point. What i have said several ises in polished opinion that this is where the law has taken us. This is where the law has taken the colorado
Supreme Court<\/a>. Our laws are statutory. The law hasis where taken us over the statute and what the statute means. Take the law, go where it takes us, and if the law needs to be changed, i think there are bodies to do that. And they do that in colorado. If they dont like our decision, the general simile will change it. They wonttay change the statute to make clear that they want a different result. Senator whitehouse is there not the doctrine in colorado that a court will overlook even the plain meaning of a statute if it would lead to an absurd result . Yes, we do have that. Senator whitehouse i thought so. Franken thank you, acting chairman. Isnt it said it took me like an hour to think of that . Called me franklin. [laughter] yeah, yeah. Senator coverture asked the question, which is about lopez and morrison, both ,f which were 54 decisions which speaks a little bit to what senator lee brought up and what senator durbin were talking about. Senator lee sort of accused us judges cant be and associations they belong to dictate how they will iside the thing about that i will read something from 2010. This is jeff sessions, who is now our attorney general. Im sure that one that less than 1 of the lawyers in america are members of the aclu. Acluems, if you have the dna, you get a pretty good leg up of being nominated by the president. Whenever a nominee came before us who had the aclu sessions wouldor question that. You cant have it both ways. You cant members on the republican side cant accuse us of looking at someones associations and maybe suspect t they were chosen by someone was chosen by the federalist society, the
Heritage Foundation<\/a> when the president decisions his court to other groups. It just seems to me that, you know, lets get it straight. Lets be honest here. To sit here and be accused of we judge people only by their professional affiliations and that senator sessions didnt and is iidnt i think just take some umbrage with that. With ato consider judges lot of factors. I dont think we should be using each other of things one side accuses the other of something they are not guilty of themselves. Chairman seeing no other members wishing to ask thank you questions, for being here today. Congratulations again. We wish you safe travel back to your home state. Colorado. To mention asing a sore subject between the broncos and the panthers. [laughter] thank you very much for your testimony. Thank you. We will ask the nominees for the second panel to come forward and we will pause briefly for the transition. Thank you for joining us. First, we will swear you win. We will go from left to right. Good morning, thank chairman tillis and
Ranking Member<\/a> tn. Thune. Thank you for conducting this hearing today. I would like to thank
President Trump<\/a> for this nomination and senator shelby for his kind words that he said on my behalf. It is an honor to be here. I dont have an
Opening Statement<\/a>, but i would like to introduce my family. I am lucky to have many of the members of my family here today. In fact, by my count, i have one dad, one and, three sisters, two nephews and four cousins in attendance. First and foremost, i would like to introduce my husband will. Being wills wife is handsdown the best thing that has ever happened to me. Will is a partner at the law firm in birmingham where he devotes his practice entirely to civil litigation. As well as with our two children, catherine, a newly minted nineyearold, and james, who is seven. They are respectfully in the third and second grade at our local elementary school. And extremely proud of them grateful for their love and support. Sitting here this morning, i was reminded that, when i was about their age, i had the privilege of being on the floor of the house of representatives to swear in my uncle. A largewe have such family, this was such an honor. Everybody wanted to do it. And i fell asleep for it. So i appreciate my childrens support and attention today. I have the good fortune of having three amazing parents. Was 10. Joe, died when i four years later, my mother remarried who would become my father, wayne moore. My father has raised me and love me as his own. He is here along with three of my four sisters. My sister valerie is at work in minnesota today. , barbara me as my aunt kearny, whose unfailing love means so much to me. That marks the first time her husband, my uncle bill, will not be by my side for a major life event. Mentormy cheerleader and , who passed away just a few month ago. I will miss being with him after todays hearing. The gaping hole in my introduction is that for my mother maureen, who died eight years ago this month. My mom was and is the most extraordinary woman i have ever known. It pains me that she is not here today because i can assure you i would not be here today if it was not for her. Me is my dear glenn and law partner, estes. He traveled from birmingham to be here. I have four sisters. I waited all my life to get a brother. Wait, but ita long was worth it. He is like a brother to me and i appreciate him making this effort to support me here. Thanks for the opportunity and i look forward to answering your questions. Mr. Brown i would like to thank senators grassley and feinstein and the other members of this committee for giving me the opportunity to talk with you all today and for considering my nomination for the
Northern District<\/a> of georgia. I would also like to thank
President Trump<\/a> for nominating me. I am honored and humbled by the confidence and trust that he places in me. I would like to thank senators isaacson, senators purdue and their staff for what they do for georgia every day and for recommending me to
President Trump<\/a>. I would like to take a moment to introduce my family. My wife is here with me. My wife is christy brown. She is my best friend 10 times over. Practicesawyer who where i also practice. She is one of the heads of the litigation group. She is a lawyer, probably the best lawyer i know. All of my friends and colleagues tell me that. She is also a really devoted and loving mother and just a super wife. I cant say enough about her. We have our three daughters with us today. My oldest is avery. She is 14. She just turned high school. She is an athlete, a big swimmer, plays volleyball, has lots of friends, likes listening to music, some of which i dont care for. [laughter] shes just a lovely girl and a wonderful person to spend the afternoon with. My middle daughter is mazy. Mazy is in the sixth grade. She is a big reader and a big writer. Her teachers always tell us what a good writer she is. She reads and writes everything harry potter. Duringshe was listening the last hearing because, when senator franken used the word umbrage [laughter] when you use the word umbrage, she immediately thought of professor umbrage of the hogwarts school. So i know she was listening. As was i. My youngest arteries sawyer brown. Sawyer is nine. She turned nine on monday. She is a delightful girl. Scientiste will be a or an engineer. She likes legos. She likes building things. She likes taking things apart. She is a bright girl. My brother david is here along with his wife colleen. They live in the area. Their son huck is here. Their other son, david, could not get out of school. I have another brother, chris. Dr. S a doctor a lot at duke. Parents live in
North Carolina<\/a> now. My father is dealing with some health issues, so he could not make the trip. But i think about them while i am here. I think about them while i was getting ready to be here in the things they taught me and the opportunities they have given me and i love them very much and wish they were here. I would like to say thanks to the folks in austin who supported me. A great. By like lawyers and be spending time with. Other than that, i have nothing else to say. Other than that i will answer questions as best i can. Brown thank you, mr. Sen. Tillis thank you, mr. Brown. Mr. Par. Mr. Par i want to thank senator grassley and senator feinstein for holding this hearing. Im grateful for mr. Trump for the nomination. With me today is my wife, sitting right here, and robinson. We have five wonderful kids. Craig, rob, will and grace. He could not be here today. I would like to thank my law firm, which is a great place to work. I have great support from my partners. I also think it is appropriate for me to thank my mother and father who are no longer with us, but who gave me so much, including the ability to go to good schools, which many people dont have that opportunity and im grateful that i had that. I have nothing further to say, chairman tillis. I would be happy to answer any questions. Sen. Tillis thank you, mr. Far. Mr. Ray. Ray thank you for the hearing today. To senator grassley and
Ranking Member<\/a> feinstein. A young middle schooler and college student, i visited this building often. Richard ray, was here. I would like to thank
President Trump<\/a> for his nomination of me and for the support of senator isaacs in and senator purdue and forwarding my name to the white house for consideration. For many people that have played a role in my career, i would like to thank him including my former partners. I cant mention one from because they have now spread out among various friends in georgia. Various firms in georgia. I would like to thank my colleagues in my other carriers in the georgia senate, where i served for six years, as well as the judges on the superior courts of georgia, particularly in minette county. Gwinnett county. Of the supporte of my family and friends, some of whom are here today. By me as my wife of 28 years,
Kelly Ray Aaron<\/a> kelly is a clinicals psychologist in
Gwinnett County<\/a>, georgia. I have my three sons that are with me as well. First is chandler, who is my oldest son. Incidentally, coincidently, he just took the lsat last saturday and is soon to be applying to law schools around the country. My son davis is here. Davis is a sophomore at the university of georgia where chandler also attends. He is studying engineering and business. And my end his son avery is a high school senior. Kellyanne
Diane Chandler<\/a> and and ihave all kelly and chandler and davis have all attended the university of georgia. We are hoping avery will go to the university of georgia. Have 31st cousins. One of those is here today as well. She is behind me as well. Her name is ginger williams. Retired as aly professor of law and
Mercy University<\/a> in macon, georgia and now lives in the west coast y. My second cousin jessica newsman. Also here is my colleague and very good friend don balfour. We had the honor of representing
Gwinnett County<\/a> together. I served there six years. He served there for 20 years. When he retired, he was the chairman of rules and had an incredible impact on our state and our county. Also here is my good friend randy nichols. Randy is a partner in the law firm here in washington, d. C. He began his career on capitol hill as a legal counsel. Later, he served as chief counsel for senator sam nunn. Randy gave me my first job in love. I was a
Summer Associate<\/a> in washington in 1988, which was an
Election Year<\/a> for president. It was a lot of fun to be here during the period of time. I happened to have gotten gauge to kelly that summer. She was also working in congress then. Since i was in fourth grade. He was a camp counselor. Among other friends and family who are tuning in through the internet are my sister, sheila rosenkranz, my only sibling. Sheila couldnt be here. She is a nurse and had to be at the hospital. Shandleraws, dr. Joyce mr. Chandler. They would have loved to have been here. She recently had surgery and could not travel. Myo, it is unfortunate that parents are here. My dad died when i was 13, the victim of a homicide. My mother, coincidentally, well not coincidently, she died five months ago. Add her about the time i was considering a plan for this position. It is somewhat ironic that the last conversation i had with her before she died was my interest in this job. She heard me talking about it with one of my friends and she was concerned about my current job. She thought i was getting fired since i was talking about applying for
Something Else<\/a>. I assured her that that wasnt true and im sure she is smiling broadly in heaven today is she looks down upon this hearing. Again, senators, thank you for having me here today, considering my nomination. I look forward to answering any questions you have today. , youtillis mr. Farr practice law for a long time and in front of a number of different judges. Can you give me an idea what you think makes a good judge and why you believe you would be a good judge . Mr. Farr thank you for that question. I have had the privilege of clerking for a good a very good judge. If i am confirmed, i will have the honor of replacing a very good judge. Gentlemen represent role models for anyone who wants to know what it takes to be a good judge. What i would say about those two gentlemen is that they are unfailingly kind to everyone who comes into the courtroom. They respect all parties. They respect all witnesses. They are very deliberate in their thinking. They are absolutely committed to following the rule of law and deciding cases based upon the facts and the law to the best of their understanding. So those two gentlemen, senator tillis, if i can come anywhere being as good as them, that is how i would define a good judge. Farrtillis thank you, mr. Without objection, i would like to submit a letter of recommendation for mr. Farr that actually comes from somebody who doesnt necessarily share your ideological or necessarily even judicial philosophies, but wrote very glowing statements about you and the relationship that you developed in your role in helping shape her profession. What type of advice would you give other attorneys . We had in their prior panel a situation where i believe senator kennedy was asking about id ice that just as justice eid would give to other students. One thing i am grateful for is i am a member of the wake county,
North Carolina<\/a> bar. It is a very high premium ever since i have been practicing law. Does, senatorwyer tillis, is use a loosely represent your science. Sometimes take on causes that may not be popular with one side or the other. You fight as hard as you can for your clients. But you always maintain respect for your opposing counsel and usually always maintain respect for the judicial officers before whom you are presiding. That would be my vice that i would give any lawyer. If you develop those type of habits, i will go back to my first statement. Judges need to remember what it was like when they were lawyers. They need to remember how hard it is to practice law. Schedulesto know how intrafamily obligations often. They need to remember that sometimes we deal with difficult clients. And they need empathy for the attorneys that appear in front of them. Again, if you practice law in the way that i have tried to practice throughout my career, i think that is developing very good habits for some of us who are fortunate to serve in a judicial capacity. Sen. Tillis thank you, mr. Farr. We will just go down the panel and color at the lightning round since i have a minute and 20 seconds left. I ask this i asked this d, is it of justice ei an aspiration or next edition of being a judge . Ms axon its an expectation. Mr. Brown an expectation. Mr. Farr annex petition and a requirement. Mr. Ray expectation and a requirement. Sen. Tillis give me an idea when it is appropriate to overturn ape to overturn precedent. Ms axon never. Mr. Brown not for a district or judge. Mr. Farr i cant imagine that a
District Court<\/a> judge should ever turn precedent of the
Supreme Court<\/a>. It ray it would be on would be impossible to overturn an 11th court or
Supreme Court<\/a> decision as a district or judge. Rea, paul forr. The georgia bulldogs when they are not playing any
North Carolina<\/a> team or the university of tennessee. [laughter]
Senate Cloture<\/a> you are at a law firm now . I went from a law firm to being elected prosecutor and then to the senate. I did that 13 to 14 years. Little bit about that transition and how that experience will be helpful in the
District Court<\/a>. Ms axon i think it will be immensely helpful having litigated for the better part of 16 years. I think that ive had the opportunity to have a wide breadth of experiences litigating many different cases, involving many different laws. Think, to echo what mr. Farr said earlier, being a judge,or and becoming a if i am fortunate enough to be confirmed, leaves with me the most recent impression of what it is like to try a case in front of a judge. And the importance of courtesy and respect and preparation and openmindedness. I think that is really what helps me prepare. I was a prosecutor for six years. I think all of that helps me because it gives me a fairly good view of at least criminal cases from both sides of the aisle. Having seen some of the pressures and the problems that prosecutors face, as well as some of the pressures and problems that defense lawyers face, i think that would give me a leg up on how i would handle my courtroom and trying the case is in front of me. Mr. Farr, high voter turnout, i am
Ranking Member<\/a> of the rules committee, so i do a lot of work in this area. Representedrecently the legislature, representing voting. That north law was oter id well have clients and we do work, but i understand the
North Carolina<\/a> legislature has requested data regarding the or hadbreakdown requested during this time the breakdown of how frequently these access tools were used before drafting the law. Despite this information, you said that the the law was not enacted with a discriminatory purpose. How would you explain the legislatures request for this information if not for the purpose of drafting a law to target groups . Why you argued the law was not intended to discriminate . Thank you for those questions. I will recall a story the took place. It was a fourweek trial in the case. During the course of the case, you may recall, at the time these laws were passed or were being considered, there was an issue about section 5s applicability. Section 5 was still in place. Trial,the course of the it was asked what would have been better for
North Carolina<\/a> given the fact that they had to law and the impact of a bore the burden of proof that it was not purposely discriminatory under section 5 . What would have been better for
North Carolina<\/a>, that they ask for the racial debtor or that they do not ask the racial data . The attorneys for the justice said,ment at the trial your honor, we cant answer that question. It was a prudent thing for the legislature to ask for that information. Under section five, they would be obligated to ask for such information. Regarding purposeful discrimination that was the second part. Sen. Tillis thank you for as mr. Farr thank you for asking me a question. At the time the clients enacted those laws, they did not believe they were purposely discriminating against
African American<\/a>s. The practices that were adopted by the city of
North Carolina<\/a>, which were subsequently struck down by the
Fourth Circuit<\/a>, our majority rule practices throughout the rest of the country. Most states dont have sameday registration prior to voting. Most states dont have 17 days of early voting. Out ofates dont have precinct voting, which is a practice that allows someone to go vote outside of their precinct on election day. Another important point i would make is that judge schroeder, the trial judge in the case, and the witnesses and saw the made the findings of fact, he made a finding that none of these laws that were eventually struck down had a discriminatory impact on
African American<\/a>s. In fact, the
African American<\/a> turnout in 2014 went up during the election where some of these practices were in place. Judge schroeders finding was the law had no discounted tory impact was returned by the
Fourth Circuit<\/a>. People see these things different way. Im absolutely bound by the decision of the
Fourth Circuit<\/a>. They saw things differently than my clients. I sit here today and am absolutely convinced that my clients did not intend to discriminate intentionally against
African American<\/a>s. Again, i have the greatest respect for the judges on that panel. Decisioney based their on the facts and the law as they understood it. Question. T workay, thank you for your on drug courts. Then president clinton introducer pushed or advocated. Or the hate crimes i did not oppose a hate crime bill as a concept i opposed the bill. The bill required that the judge was the one that would make the decision as to whether the paid towarduld have a particular group. That was in direct contradiction in that it had to be a jury decision. When the bill was voted on in the senate, that was one of the reasons, the primary reason i oppose the bill. We did pass the senate and went to the house. When he came back from the house, late in the session, the bill was structured in such a way that it didnt add any additional penalties. Commit ane, to aggravated assault, attack summary with a gun or a hammer or anything like that, in georgia, the crime the judge can sentence you from want to 20 years. The bill came back from the house. It allowed the judge to impose the penalty of to the maximum. Judges already had that obligation and right to make that decision. So i didnt really do anything. I felt it was simply a political statement being made. Sometimes, if you pass a bill that doesnt do anything, it takes the bill off the public consciousness and then you dont do anything else for a long period of time. There was one other problem with that bill. It didnt really identify the groups, when he came back from the house, the groups that were targeted. It could have been anyone. Sen. Klobuchar at the time, you said it would create two chairs of victims. Mr. Ray i believe i said that when it was in the senate. Thator, if i might explain , as i mentioned in my
Opening Statement<\/a>, my dad was murdered when i was 13. Obviously, my sister and i were traumatized by that. So one of the views i had about the bill, given that it did not impose any additional penalties, was that it was the state seeking to say if you or a victim in one particular class that you are entitled to some greater recognition and protection than another. But the reason i voted against the bill was i felt, in the final analysis, it was unconstitutional. It was too vague. And when it was challenged and it went to the georgia supreme
Supreme Court<\/a> found in a 70 decision that it was unconstitutional. Sen. Klobuchar thank you. Center gu senator thank you for being before us. I have a broad question, but i will give a specific introduction about right to counsel. Judge rae, as a state court judge, you have done some interesting things recognizing the torrents of
Adequate Funding<\/a> and the utilization of diversion programs. In a 2013 case, a class of fathers was held in contempt of court and sent to prison for violating
Child Support<\/a> orders. They were not given counsel at the hearing. You found they were not denied counsel because they never asked for counsel. Many defendants dont know when they have a right to counsel. The georgia
Supreme Court<\/a> recognized that when they determined a failure to ask for counsel does not decide the claim. Broadly, what steps will you take to ensure that parties that appear before you, especially indigent parties, are afforded access to counsel and that we are careful in making sure that we do everything we can to ensure that parties appearing in front of a judge are effectively represented . The deal case that you mentioned, i want to point out that the
Supreme Court<\/a> did a poll the sedition the decision, the opinion that i rendered. I cant argue with their logic. I disagreed with it because when i thought my opinion said below was that the judge didnt know that they wanted counsel. Its not typical that fathers or mothers who are in court facing contempt proceedings for not paying
Child Support<\/a> on or night given lawyers, that is not a common practice around the country. As far as making sure you have counsel, there was also a case when i was a trial judge, when i served for 10 years, and it was a
Capital Punishment<\/a> case during the midst of the recession where the state ran out of money. I brought a halt of the proceedings in my
Death Penalty<\/a> case because the defense counsel was underfunded. The word given investigators. They were overworked. They could never show up in my court because they had some in cases. A
Supreme Court<\/a> case as well. It led to the georgia
General Assembly<\/a> appropriating funds. Practice in my trial court when i was a trial judge and shortly as a
District Court<\/a> judge, i would ensure that people are represented. It is important that all sides have a seed at the table and that means a skilled advocate presenting those arguments. Sen. Coons i think it is particularly important in cases that involve once a pathetic defendants, such as those who failed to meet childsupport obligations. Or those facing capital charges, systematically effective assistant. In your representation of state versus lewis that helped. Verturn a unilateral decision how can you as a judge ensure indigent defendants receive the full benefit of constitutional protection . I will ask all four of you roughly the same question. I share the senators concern and importance of effective representation for indigent defendants. It has been a part of my practice since i first got out of law school. The representation of dr. Lewis was one of many that i have taken on, including many that im doing even to this day. So i think it is very important. , we have aral system robust federal
Defender Program<\/a> and a robust conflicts counsel, when there is a conflict with the federal defender. They work very well with the judges. I saw that as a prosecutor and i have seen that when i have been on the defense side. One of the ways that a judge can ensure that it is working early beto be accessible, to patient, to have opportunities,o bring parties before them have motions and hearings early in the case, status conferences, rather than waiting until the end, right before trial, and. Ringing people for them i think there is an oversight that a judge can provide in that regard your sen. Coons thank you, mr. In that regard. Sen. Coons thank you, mr. Brown. My reading of your record is you have had relatively little criminal experience. I had little criminal experience the for coming to this job either. How will you get up to speed in terms of managing trial issues and criminal issues and assuring adequate access . Ms axon thank you for that question. You are right. I dont have criminal experience. Trial,oaching a criminal i will do what i do in any other research the law, learn the facts, and apply the law to those facts. I agree with everything that mr. Brown said. I think that it is crucially important that criminal defendants have not just adequate counsel, but really good counsel that advocates on their behalf. Surehe way that i can make that occurs is by asking at the outset are you aware that you are entitled to counsel . And if they are not, make them aware of that fact. And then point them in the direction of where they need to go to obtain that counsel. View, and inn my my experience in my district, judges also have the opportunity to advocate appropriately within the bar to ensure there is broad participation in pro bono opportunities and folks that are at risk are well represented. Thank you for that answer. Question he same mr. Farr, the same question. Mr. Farr thank you, senator. I cannot agree more with the sentiments you expressed about that issue. Started as an intern for the federal
Public Defenders Office<\/a> a long time ago. I thought i was going to work for them fulltime and and they get their budget cut and i lost my job so i went on another course. I agree with the other things that the panelists have said. But a couple of thoughts came to mind. Because i havent done in a lot of criminal work, i will make a real effort. We have great criminal defense lawyers in lake county. I will make a serious, committed effort to meet with them and get their ideas on things i should be considering and doing. Juster thing is it is not assigned cases. Thetimes, unfortunately, system, the quality of the lawyer you have has an impact on the trial. May criminal defendants who not have an assigned lawyer, but who have somebody that may not be at the same level as some of the great defense lawyers, that that person is getting a fair trial. In situations like that, i will not be shy about using my prerogative to ask questions police,he case of the the fbi, however, to make sure that important facts are brought into the record for the jurys consideration. Employment discrimination is a particular area. A plaintiff claimed that a manager had told female employees a variety of offensiveate or things, that women with children should be at home and not employed, that female employees were awful or stupid or should wear shorter skirts to attract attention. You wrote in a
Summary Judgment<\/a> motion that the alleged conduct was neither severe or pervasive. Obligation ofhe an attorney is active, aggressive advocate for the client. Mr. Farr thank you for that question, senator. Given all my articles that i have written to the committee. One of the things i believe firmly in my law firm leaves in firmly is our main goal is employment lawyers is to rent our clients from being sued. And the way you prevent your clients from being suited and i preach this practice i always recommend clients adopt a golden rule for human relations. If you get into a jury trout, the jury will be simple adequate the employee starting out. What i want you to be, if we get to that point, which is not a good thing, senator. Trials are good for the lawyers and typically enough for anybody else. But if you get to that point, i want that jury to say i wish my mother or my sister or my brother worked for that company. So the case you mentioned, those types of conducts are surely not things that we would recommend or support or endorse or condone our clients to do. Keep in mind, they were allegations at that point in time. There is a difference of opinion in these cases over whether these things actually took place or not. Finally, senator, in this area, there are situations where somebody in gauges in boorish behavior, rude behavior, but behavior my mother would wash my mouth out with soap, but they do not rise to sexual harassment. Sen. Coons as a law student, i got to watch
Supreme Court<\/a> arguments. In pricen to be waterhouse versus watkins under title vii church jurisprudence. Gender stereotypes can also lead to title vii liability. Would you agree that that is a legitimate part of title vii junior title vii jurisprudence and can create an employment decision that is based on a failure to conform to gender stereotypes can produce legal risk for a client . Mr. Farr i absolutely agree with that statement. I am proud to say that my law against a strong policy that type of discrimination, i i endorse for only endorse fully. Bono things in the pass, i had a lady friend who was a fired from her business because of her gender identity. I help to resolve the situation. I dont think people in the workplace should be judged based on anything other than how they perform. Sen. Coons last topic. There is a significant body of cases in which you were active onresenting the legislature gerrymandering. There have been a number of strong opinions by both federal
District Court<\/a>s and the
Fourth Circuit<\/a>. Yesterday, the
Fourth Circuit<\/a> in covington versus
North Carolina<\/a> concluded that this is one of the most widespread, serious and longstanding constitutional violations in terms of racial gerrymandering. You mentioned meeting constitutional protections. Is it permissible for a state legislature to engage in gerrymandering that takes race into account . How do you suggest that we move forward to where district lines are drawn in a way that respects the fundamental rights of all americans . Mr. Farr senator, i think that is an evolving area of the law. It has taken different turns of the last 30 years. My understanding of the law today is the courts have any time a statet any three districts, there is a consciousness of race. Based upon the most recent decisions, a legislature cannot take race into account until they have essentially the same type of evidence that a plaintiff would have to have in a section 2 case to show that remedial districts were necessary. The legislature would have to have evidence that the minority cohesive,politically geographically compact the constitute a majority in a civil member district. Then you have to have evidence of significantly racialized racially polarized voting. Tons of evidence of racially polarized voting. I dont think anyone disputes that, in
North Carolina<\/a>, there is racially polarized voting. Prior redistricting efforts in
North Carolina<\/a>, the racially polarized voting was sufficient in the minds of the legislature to support these remedial districts. The
Supreme Court<\/a> has decided highere standard is much and that you have to have a large block of white voters to feed the minority. Absent that type of evidence, they shouldnt take that into account in drawing districts. You and to thank your families who are here and support. Thank you to each of you for being here today. Congratulations to you and your family. This concludes the committee hearing. I suspect there will be some members who will have questions they will submit. The record will be held open for a week. Thank you and congratulations. The meeting is adjourned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions
Copyright National<\/a> cable satellite corp. 2017] the
United Nations<\/a>
General Assembly<\/a> is meeting this week in new york. Yesterday,
President Trump<\/a> addressed to the gathering. Today, british
Prime Minister<\/a> theresa may will be addressing the assembly. Right now, we will go live to the u. N. Generals someday for remarks for remarks from the president of ukraine. This is time to act and we have a very narrow window to avoid the sliding down into irreversible hell. Nations should be at the forefront and ukraine has always advocated the need to reform the
United Nations<\/a> to meet the most urgent global challenges timely and adequately. In this regard, we welcome the efforts of the secretarygeneral. Since the first day of his mandate to develop and implement a robust, copper has of u. N. Reform agenda. No less, we support the u. S. Promote a to meaningful reform of the
United Nations<\/a>. Mr. President , let me take this chance to stay clearly that ukraine cannot agree more with the sovereignty to be universally respected and guaranteed. This very conclusion was timely and arrived yesterday from this podium. When the
United Nations<\/a> was set up, it was designed to m","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia802204.us.archive.org\/31\/items\/CSPAN_20170920_140000_Senate_Judiciary_Committee_Takes_Up_Judicial_Nominations\/CSPAN_20170920_140000_Senate_Judiciary_Committee_Takes_Up_Judicial_Nominations.thumbs\/CSPAN_20170920_140000_Senate_Judiciary_Committee_Takes_Up_Judicial_Nominations_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240629T12:35:10+00:00"}