Obama Names 4th LGBT Judicial Nominee

Michael Fitzegerald becomes President Obama's

4th openly LGBT nominee to the federal judiciary

Wow! Just days after Paul Oetken became the first openly gay man was confirmed as a U.S. District Court judge to the Souther District of New York, President Obama has named a 4th openly LGBT individual to become a federal judge with lifetime appointment. He is Michael Fitzgerald and joins Ali Nathan, J. Paul Oetken and Ed Dumont as openly LGBT federal judicial nominees of the Obama administration. The Oetken nomination has passed the Senate, the Nathan nomination is on the floor and there is no scheduled action on the Dumont nomination planned.

Here's the press release from the White House on the Fitzgerald nomination:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_________________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 20, 2011

President Obama Nominates Michael Walter Fitzgerald to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama announced his nomination of Michael Walter Fitzgerald to the United States District Court for the Central District of California. 

"I am honored to nominate Michael Walter Fitzgerald to the United States District Court," President Obama said.  "His impressive career stands as a testament to his formidable intellect and integrity.  I am confident he will serve the people of California with distinction on the District Court bench."

Michael Walter Fitzgerald: Nominee for United States District Judge for the Central District of California

Michael Walter Fitzgerald has been a named partner at the law firm of Corbin, Fitzgerald & Athey LLP in Los Angeles, California since 1998, where he handles civil and criminal litigation in both federal and state courts.   Previously, he worked at the Law Offices of Robert L. Corbin PC from 1995 to 1998 and at the law firm of Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe from 1991 to 1995.  Between 1988 and 1991, Fitzgerald served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles.  Upon graduation from law school, he clerked for the Honorable Irving R. Kaufman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  Fitzgerald received his J.D. in 1985 from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) and his A.B. magna cum laude in 1981 from Harvard University.

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1st Openly Gay U.S. District Court Judge Approved By Senate

As I blogged about earlier this year, J. Paul Oetken is the first openly gay man to be nominated for a lifetime federal judgeship. On Monday, the United States Senate approved Oetken's nomination by a vote of 80-13 to a seat on the Southern District of New York, which covers New York City and is one of the busiest and prestigious federal courts in the country. Amazingly, Oetken will join the same bench that the nation's only openly lesbian federal judge sits on. Deborah Batts is an African American lesbian judge who was nominated by President Clinton and approved by the Senate in 1994. All 13 Senators voting No o Oetken's nomination were Republicans.

Chris Geidner reports:

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has been supporting the nomination, praised Oetken's background and experience on the Senate floor shortly before the vote, saying "His confirmation will only improve the workings of one of the best and one of the busiest courts in the country."

Of Oetken's place as the first, Schumer said, "At this moment, Paul is not just an excellent candidate, as the first openly gay man to be confirmed as a federal judge and to serve on the federal bench, he will be a symbol of how much we have achieved as a country in just the last few decades."

Before the vote began, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) -- the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee -- also announced that he would be voting for Oetken, who was born in Iowa.

When the vote did come, all Democrats voting approved the nomination, with Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) the sole Democrat not voting. Moreover, a majority of the Senate Republican caucus -- 28 members -- voted to approve the nomination, with 13 Republicans opposing the nomination and six members not voting.

The "no" votes came from Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). The Republicans not voting were Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and David Vitter (R-La.).

This is great news. Someone should ask all the Republican presidential candidates whether they would nominate an openly LGBT person to a federal judgeship. President Obama has also nominated an out lesbian, Ali Nathan, to a federal judgeship as well. That nomination is now pending on the Senate floor.

Goodwin Liu Nomination On Senate Floor!

Goodwin Liu testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee, which reported
out his nomination to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals by a 10-8 vote

There is some good news to report on President Obama's judicial nominations. The Senate Judiciary Committee had  a hearing this week and reported out five nominees, including Goodwin Liu for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and J. Paul Oetken, for the Southern District of New York.

These two nominations are being followed carefully by MadProfessah and other progressives around the country because Oetken is the first openly gay man ever to be nominated to a federal District Court judgeship and Liu is an Asian-American, progressive legal star, currently a professor at UC Berkeley Law School. The Oetken nomination looks like it will sail through the Senate but the Republicans are terrified that if they allow the 39-year-old Liu on the appellate court he could be nominated for the United States Supreme Court in Obama's second term and seem determine to filibuster the nomination to death.

From the Washington Times:

The Liu debate extends far beyond Capitol Hill, as liberal and conservative groups see the nomination fight as a crucial test of the president’s ability to put his stamp on the nation’s judiciary. 

Curt Levey, executive director of the conservative Committee for Justice, called Mr. Liu “the worst of Obama’s nominees at all levels of the federal courts.” 

Nan Aron, president of the liberal Alliance for Justice, in contrast called Mr. Liu “one of the finest legal minds of his generation” who deserves a swift yes vote on the Senate floor. 

Whether that vote happens, however, is uncertain. Democrats control only 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats — seven fewer than needed to guarantee an override of a Republican filibuster. A handful of moderate Democrats facing tough re-election battles also may be tempted to join a GOP filibuster of Mr. Liu.

We shall see what happens but at least there are more than 18 months until the end of this Congress so time is on Liu's side.

Openly Gay Federal Judge Nominee Has Low-Key Hearing

J. Paul Oetken, potentially the first openly gay man to become a federal judge, had an uneventful hearing before the United States Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday March 16th, with no Republican opposition.

Chris Geidner of Metro Weekly reports:

J. Paul Oetken, an out gay attorney who worked at Jenner & Block and Debevoise & Plimpton, also spent substantial time in government, working in both the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and the White House under President Clinton. A former law clerk to the late Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, Oetken currently serves as the senior vice president and associate general counsel at Cablevision.

He was nominated, on Schumer's recommendation, for a judgeship on the Southern District of New York -- one of the key federal trial courts in the nation.

In Schumer's introduction of Oetken, the senator noted that, in addition to records of excellence and moderation, "I also look for candidates who bring diverse views and backgrounds to the bench. Paul is the first openly gay man to go through an Article III confirmation process in this country, which makes this moment historic. But long after today, what the history books will note about Paul is certain to be his achievements as a fair and brilliant judge."

We'll be monitoring the progress of this nomination carefully. It is doubtful that one of the rabidly anti-gay Republican members of the United States Senate will skip this opportunity to  curry favor with heterosexual supremacists and prevent an openly gay man from making history as a federal judge, even one as obviously well-qualified as Oetken.

The question is, how hard will the Democratic majority and the President fight to confirm the President's nominees, especially in light of the very real prospect of loss of Senate control in 2012.