Leahy praises Reiss' appointment
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In this photograph taken on Nov. 4, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), left, stands with Christina Reiss, who was confirmed Nov. 22 to a judgeship on Vermont's U.S. District Court. At right is Vermont U.S. District Court Judge William K. Sessions III. Reiss will be the first woman to serve as a federal judge in Vermont. AP PHOTO |
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By Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau - Published: November 24, 2009
MONTPELIER — The U.S. Senate approved Judge Christina Reiss for a spot on the federal bench in Vermont on Saturday after a quick nomination process that was also a victory for U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermonter who is the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Reiss, 47, will become the first woman to hold the job of federal district judge in Vermont. Reiss, who was nominated to become a state judge by Gov. James Douglas in 2004, will replace Judge J. Garvan Murtha on the federal bench.
"I am delighted," Leahy said by telephone Monday. One of the things that pleased him was the speed of the confirmation, Leahy said. It was only about 39 days from when President Barack Obama nominated Reiss — after Leahy's recommendation — to Saturday's vote by the Senate, he said.
"It is the fastest judicial confirmation this year," he added.
Leahy said that his background as a prosecutor forms the basis of his evaluation of potential judges' impartiality.
"The standard I always set is if walked into that courtroom would it make any difference if I was plaintiff or defendant or government," Leahy said. "I worked very, very hard at who I was going to pick because it is a lifetime appointment."
Peter Van Oot, a Brattleboro lawyer who was the chairman of the nine member committee that forwarded names of potential candidates for the job to Leahy, said the fact that Reiss is a woman did not play into the group's work.
"We endeavored to be blind of that issue," he said. "We looked hard at the candidates who were submitted (and) we tried to find the most qualified people we could."
"The commission was impressed with the qualifications of all of the applications who applied for the position of federal district judge," Van Oot said. "We did vet the candidates, particularly the candidates whose names we forwarded, pretty aggressively in the bar and outside the bar."
"Hard work, diligence and well-reasoned decisions" all argued for Reiss' nomination, he said. "Apparently the American Bar Association determined independently that she was well qualified," Van Oot said.
Vermont's history of having well respected and influential federal judges was one more reason the committee took its task seriously, he added.
Leahy said the fact that for the first time a woman will hold a spot on the federal bench in Vermont is also a benefit of the appointment.
"I told the President I was delighted to be able to recommend a woman," Leahy said. "I also told him this was a nomination he could be proud of."
"When I was admitted to the bar there were very few women in the Vermont bar," Leahy added. "I think having a woman on the bench is a great role model for women, for women lawyers and for women non-lawyers."
Reiss is now serving in Lamoille County. After assuming her new role she will sit on the federal bench primarily in Rutland, according to the federal court clerk's office. Reiss graduated from Essex High School, St. Michael's College and University of Arizona law school.
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