Senate Confirms Norton's Pick for District Court

Senate Confirms Norton's Pick for District Court

March 14, 2011

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Senate today confirmed D.C. Superior Court Judge James E. Boasberg for U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Columbia, who Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) recommended to President Obama. Last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Judge Boasberg's nomination.

"Judge Boasberg is a District resident who has had an extraordinary legal career, involving extensive trial and judgeship experience, that makes him an especially promising judge for our federal district court," said Norton. "Judge Boasberg is an excellent representative of the high-quality D.C. bar."

Boasberg, a native Washingtonian, has been an Associate Judge on the D.C. Superior Court since 2002. He graduated from Yale College, where he played varsity basketball for four years, from Oxford University, with a M.St. in Modern European History, and from Yale Law School. He clerked for Judge Dorothy W. Nelson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit; served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, where he tried more than 40 felony jury trials; and worked in private practice.

President Obama, like President Clinton, gave Norton senatorial courtesy to recommend candidates for important federal law enforcement posts in the District. The Congresswoman established a 17-member Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission, made up of D.C. residents from every ward and chaired by Pauline Schneider, to vet and recommend candidates to the Congresswoman, who then does her own interviews and background checks and submits her final choice to the President.

Last Congress, the Senate confirmed Norton's recommendations for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ronald Machen, and U.S. District Court Judges for the District of Columbia, Beryl A. Howell and Robert L. Wilkins, as well as for the U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia, Edwin D. Sloane.