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Loading ...Senator nominates gay man to judgeship
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, is recommending Daniel Alter to serve as a judge in the Southern District federal court. Alter is the first openly gay man to be nominated for a federal judge post in U.S. history.
“Daniel Alter couldn’t be a more perfect choice. He is a brilliant attorney who possesses the knowledge, balanced views and temperament required of a federal judge,” Schumer said in a statement. “His outstanding leadership skills, his commitment to justice, and his extensive experience make him an exceptional choice for a position on the federal bench. I’m proud to nominate Daniel Alter. Period. But I am equally proud to nominate him because he is a history-maker who will be the first openly gay male judge in American history.”
According to the statement, Alter is a graduate of Columbia College and Yale Law School. He served for six years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York where he specialized in first amendment and terrorism issues.
“It is rare to find a candidate with both the raw intelligence and the practical experience of Mr. Alter,” Schumer said. “Mr. Alter is not only a highly qualified candidate for the Southern District Court and a lawyer whose views have been tempered by a broad range of experiences in the public and private sectors, but a candidate who would enhance the diversity of the federal bench. I have often said that I strive to appoint those with three qualities: excellence, moderation and diversity, and Mr. Alter fits that prescription to a ‘T.’ ”
The Human Rights Campaign applauded the nomination.
“Daniel Alter is eminently qualified for a position on the federal bench. America is taking a step forward toward equality by evaluating an individual based on his accomplishments and without regard to his sexual orientation,” said HRC president Joe Solmonese in a statement. “We commend Senator Schumer for his historic recommendation, and look forward to the President’s nomination.”
The move comes on the heals of controversy over the orientation of Judge Vaughn Walker, a gay man, who is presiding over the Proposition 8 case in California.
Huh, funny, I thought Presidents nominated, and the US Senate gave advice and consent.
Good thing Ruth Schneider is here to correct my faulty understanding of the US Constitution with her excellent and well-informed article titles.
If the repugs dont kill it in the senate with a filibuster.
Fuckers. Disciples not of Christ, but of that Catholic guy who used hatred of the Jews from his church to leverage his election in germany.
And 50 million died.
SteveMD2 and Alexa,
interesting that you do not find any gay appointee to be a sign of progress.
I guess the average gay mind is just hard-wired to be suspicious of any and everything even if it could be a potentially promising developement.
I prefer to take a wait and see attitude, a cautious attitude over an optimistic one or over one that automatically sees the worst coming before that is even the case.
We all know that anything could happen to this appointee, that we still have enemies in Congress, (albeit fewer of them than under Bush’s time when there were more antigays in Congress who fell for various reasons, due to elections, Marilyn Musgrave one of them who was a co-author of a future antimarriage equality amendment to the US constitution which got shot down each time… corruption charges against Ted Stevens antigay Alaska senator who served for over 40 years until he messed up on more recent corrupt behavior in his home state, ethics charges against antigay congressman Tom deLay costing him his seat, etc, corruption charges of the sort that sent another antigay amendment co-author Cunningham to prison, and other Bush era antigays swept from Congress for various reasons)
Of course the new GOP man Scott Brown who unfortunately replaced Ted Kennedy has cost the Dems their filibuster-proof majority by about one seat as we all know handing another victory to Sparkle Cow and her cohort in antigay mischief Brian Brown. Thought I read somewhere that NOM help promote Browm from behind the scenes or something like that.
The former supporters of Ted Kennedy and those of his area of MA who were for him need to lean hard on Scott Brown when and if he gets antigay and absurd.
Morgan,
I fail to see where I mentioned anything about it not being a sign of progress. My commentary is all about words and constitutional process.
“Nominating” a person is the President’s job. Senators can recommend, and then when they as a body vote to confirm, THEN the person becomes an “Appointee”.
I don’t see in the article any mention of the President actually NOMINATING this person for a federal judgeship. What I see is a quote from Senator Schumer about a recommendation, which he mischaracterizes as a nomination, and that mischaracterization is then carried forward by the reporter into the title of the article, causing confusion about what’s really being reported.
For having a ‘wait and see’ attitude, you seem to be jumping the gun. I personally would find an openly gay nominee to the federal bench very exciting, but the person hasn’t been nominated to the post (yet, I hope).
This article details the same substance as President Obama’s short-list for Supreme Court Justice that included lesbian candidates: NO substance, just words.