Norton Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission Accepting Applications for Upcoming Vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

WASHINGTON, DC – The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced that her Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission (Commission) is accepting applications for an upcoming vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle will take senior status on June 3, 2014, creating a vacancy.

Applications are due before 5:00 p.m. on April 14, 2014. The Commission, chaired by Pauline Schneider, a special counsel at Ballard Spahr LLP and a former president of the D.C. Bar, will vet and interview applicants for the opening and will send several applicants to the Congresswoman, who will then make her recommendation to President Obama.

Applications are available online on Norton’s website at: https://norton.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/norton-evo.house.gov/files/us-district-court-judge-questionnaire_and_waiver.pdf. Applicants must submit two completed hard-copies of the application and 20 USB flash drives (thumb drives) containing the completed application to: Pauline A. Schneider, Ballard Spahr LLP, 1909 K Street, NW, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20006-1157. Applicants who have filed an application within the past 12 months may simply provide a cumulative update of relevant information since the date of their last application.

President Obama, like President Clinton, granted Norton senatorial courtesy to recommend candidates for federal district court judges and other important federal law enforcement officials in the District. President Obama has nominated and the Senate has confirmed six of Norton’s recommendations for district court judges – Ketanji Brown Jackson, Amy Berman Jackson, James E. Boasberg, Rudolph Contreras, Beryl A. Howell and Robert L. Wilkins. Wilkins now serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Two other Norton recommendations, Casey Cooper and Tanya Chutkan, were nominated by the President and are pending before the Senate. Both are expected to be confirmed by the full Senate.

Published: March 13, 2014