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AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION

STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY

INFORMATIONAL REPORT TO THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES

The American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary continues its long-standing practice of evaluating the professional qualifications of prospective nominees to the federal bench. At the request of every Administration from 1953 through 2000, the Standing Committee conducted peer evaluations of prospective federal judicial nominees on a pre-nomination basis. From 2001 through 2008, the Standing Committee conducted its evaluations on a post-nomination basis and submitted its ratings to the Senate Judiciary Committee. In 2009, at the request of the Obama Administration, the Standing Committee resumed its historic role in evaluating the professional qualifications of prospective judicial nominees to Article III and Article IV (territorial) courts on a pre-nomination basis.

The Standing Committee makes a unique contribution to the vetting process by conducting an extensive, confidential peer review of each potential nominee’s professional competence, integrity and judicial temperament. Following a process that has evolved over 60 years and is structured to assure a fair, impartialand thorough evaluation, the Standing Committeeconducts dozens of confidential interviews with a broad spectrum of lawyers, judges and others who are in a position to evaluate the potential nominee’s professional qualifications to serve as a federal judge.

The Standing Committee only discloses the ratings of individuals who have been nominated by the President. Once the nomination is submitted to the Senate, the Standing Committee sends its rating of “Well Qualified,”“Qualified,” or “Not Qualified” to the nominee, the White House, the Department of Justice and the Senate Judiciary Committee. The rating is also posted on the Standing Committee’s website. At the request of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Standing Committee regularly testifies at confirmation hearings for all Supreme Court nominees and for those lower court nominees who were rated “Not Qualified.”

The Committee did not submit reports to the House of Delegates during the 2014 Midyear or Annual Meetings or to the 2015 Midyear Meeting; therefore, the following statistics summarize nomination and confirmation activity from June 7, 2013 through June 1, 2015:

  1. Judicial nominations made by President Obama ...... 119
  2. Ratings released by the Standing Committee...... 119
  3. Judicial nominations confirmed by the U.S. Senate ...... 116

On June 1, 2015,the date of submission of this report, there were 56 vacant Article III judgeships and 16 nominees pending before the Senate.

Former Committee members often assist the Standing Committee in conducting evaluations when there are multiple pending nominations in the same circuit or special circumstances arise. Because of their invaluable assistance, we have been able to complete every evaluation in a thorough and timely fashion. We thank the following former members who have assisted us since the last report:

Ramon A. Abadin

David L. Brown

Harold T. Daniel

Leonard H. Gilbert

Robert C. Heim

Benjamin H. Hill

Beth Kaufman

James B. Lee

E. Fitzgerald Parnell, III

D. Alan Rudlin

The Standing Committee also thanks the many judges, lawyers, government officials, community members and others who provided, on a confidential basis, thoughtful and thorough information regarding the professional qualifications of prospective nominees. Their candor is essential to our peer evaluations.

Theimpartiality and independence of the Committee and its procedures are essential to the effectiveness of its work.The Board of Governors, House of Delegates officers and other ABA membersarenever involved in or apprised of the substantivework of the Committee.

We are gratified that the ABA recognizesthe important public service performed by the Standing Committee andthank President William Hubbard and President-Elect Paulette Brown for their vigorous support of the Standing Committee.

Respectfully Submitted,

H. Thomas Wells, Jr., Chair

Paul E. Summit

Seymour James, Jr.

Karol Corbin Walker

Willis P. Whichard

John J. McKetta, III

Charles E. English, Jr.

Patricia Costello Slovak

Charles A. Weiss

Debra Pole

Barbara Dawson

Jim Goh

Peter Prieto

Robert Weiner

Pauline A. Schneider

Submitted June 2, 2015 for

August 2015 Annual Meeting

Chicago, IL

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