March 12, 2014
Fierce Democratic Critic Of Obama Judicial Pick Praises Latest Choice
For Bench
BuzzFeed
Evan McMorris-Santoro
WASHINGTON — The recent icy relations between a Democratic representative
and President Obama over a nominee for the federal bench in Georgia are
starting to thaw after Obama announced Leslie Joyce Abrams, an assistant U.S.
attorney and the sister of a prominent Democratic state lawmaker, as his pick for
another empty slot on the Georgia district court.
“She should be fine and a step in the right direction,” said a senior aide to Rep.
David Scott, the Democrat locked in a war of words with the White House over
another Obama nominee to the Georgia court, Michael Boggs.
If approved by the Senate, Abrams would be the first African American woman on
the federal bench in Georgia.
Abrams’ sister is Stacey Abrams, the leader of the Democrats in the Georgia state
House. Her nomination was announced late Tuesday afternoon and the aide to
Scott said the representative hasn’t had “a lot of chance to vet” her.
But the initial take is positive, and there are signs the White House is trying to get
Scott back on the president’s good side. The aide to the representative said the
White House gave Scott “a little heads up” on the nomination before it was
announced.
The aide said Scott had no role in Abrams being selected.
Scott has been the most vocal opponent of Boggs, a former Georgia Democratic
lawmaker singled out by progressives, LGBT rights groups, civil rights advocates,
and NARAL for his political positions in the state legislature.
The fight between Scott at least and the White House has become pretty nasty,
with the representative accusing Obama of “disrespect” with the Boggs
nomination, leading the Obama administration to offer up White House counsel
Kathryn Ruemmler for a rare interview to defend the pick.
It’s not clear if the other critics of the Boggs nomination share Scott’s sentiments
about Abrams. NARAL, the leader of the progressive coalition opposing Boggs in
the Senate, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/fierce-democratic-critic-of-obama-judicialpick-praises-late
…………
Obama Taps Atlanta Federal Prosecutor for Albany Judgeship
R. Robin McDonald, Daily Report
March 12, 2014
An assistant U.S. attorney in Atlanta was nominated by the White House late today for a federal
judgeship in Albany.
The White House nominated Leslie Joyce Abrams to the post vacated by retiring U.S. District Judge Louis
Sands. Albany is in the Middle District of Georgia.
Abrams' sister is Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, the minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives.
Leslie Abrams could not be reached for comment. But her sister told the Daily Report after the
announcement, "I'm very proud of her. I think she will make an excellent judge. She is thoughtful and
brilliant and fair-minded."
"Leslie has had a long commitment to public service and to justice and she believes that the court
system is essential to guarantee each citizen the full measure of their rights."
At the U.S. attorney's office, in addition to her trial work, Leslie Abrams developed and implemented
U.S. Attorney Sally Yates' community outreach efforts in crime prevention, prisoner re-entry and violent
crime reduction.
Previously, Abrams worked as a litigation associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in
Washington from 2003 to 2006 and again from 2007 to 2010. From 2006 to 2007, she worked as an
associate at Kilpatrick Stockton in Atlanta.
Abrams began her legal career serving as a law clerk for Judge Marvin J. Garbis of the United States
District Court for the District of Maryland. She received her law degree in 2002 from Yale Law School
and her B.A. in 1997 from Brown University.
Stacey Abrams said that her sister had been under consideration for a nomination to the bench in the
Northern District of Georgia, where she has practiced as an assistant U.S. attorney since 2010 and where
there are three open seats on the bench.
But her name was not included as part of a deal the White House struck with Georgia's two Republican
U.S. senators last fall. That deal included nominations for Northern District seats of two candidates who
were placed in their current judgeships by Republican Gov. Nathan Deal: Georgia Court of Appeals Judge
Michael Boggs, who hails from the Southern District of Georgia, and DeKalb County State Court Judge
Eleanor Ross.
That slate has been criticized by liberal and Democratic groups because Ross is the only black
candidate in the group, because Boggs took very conservative positions as a state legislator and
because another nominee, Mark Cohen, defended the state’s voter identification law.
Abrams' nomination is the third in Georgia in which the Obama White House has nominated
candidates from one federal district to a judicial post in another federal district.
During the president's first term, he nominated Judge Steve Jones—then an Athens superior
court judge in the Middle District—to a spot on the Northern District bench. Boggs is from
Waycross, in the Southern District.
Read more: http://www.dailyreportonline.com/id=1202646498257/Obama-Taps-Atlanta-FederalProsecutor-for-Albany-Judgeship#ixzz2vr0RU4Vz
…………
Huffington Post
Democratic Critics Of Obama Judicial Nominee Unmoved By New
Choice For Bench
Updated: 03/12/2014 8:59 pm EDT
Jen Bendery
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has been fighting with members of his own party for months
over a controversial judicial pick. But he appeared to make a peace offering with Tuesday's nomination
of Leslie Abrams to serve as a federal district court judge in Georgia.
Abrams, an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Georgia since 2010, would be the state's
first black female judge if she's confirmed to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia -- a
detail not lost on Georgia Democrats eager to boost their state's judicial diversity.
"The Abrams nomination is a good move in the right direction to fill the vacant judicial seats in Georgia,"
Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.). said Wednesday.
"I'm happy that this young lady, Ms. Abrams, was nominated to serve," said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.).
"She's qualified, she's paid her dues and she'll make an excellent district court judge."
It's been a while since a Democrat has praised an Obama Georgia judicial pick. For months, the White
House has been under fire from civil rights leaders, abortion rights groups and the lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender community over an Obama district court nominee for Georgia, Michael Boggs. During his
time as a state legislator, Boggs voted to keep the confederate insignia on the Georgia state flag, to
tighten restrictions on access to abortion and to ban same-sex marriage.
Another of the president's Georgia judicial picks, Mark Cohen, has come under attack for successfully
defending Georgia's voter ID law in court. But progressives have singled out Boggs as the big problem,
and more than two dozen groups have appealed to Senate Democrats to sink his confirmation.
Neither Scott nor Johnson said Abrams' nomination would be enough to make them relax efforts to
derail Boggs and Cohen.
"The focus on a couple of the earlier unacceptable nominations will not stop until they are denied
lifetime appointments," said Scott.
"When it's all said and done, I only have one craw sticking at me," said Johnson. "That is the former
legislator who showed his political leanings with his votes to not get rid of the Confederate emblem on
Georgia's flag, to make it more difficult for women to get the health care they need, and also for his
stand on the constitutional amendment stating that marriage was between a man and a woman."
NARAL Pro-Choice America, which has been actively lobbying the Senate to reject Boggs, also signaled
that Obama's latest nomination won't affect its plans.
"This will not change our focus, which is defeating the nomination of Michael Boggs," said Samantha
Gordon, the group's director of public affairs. "Boggs' proactive anti-choice record is extreme and out of
step with the majority of Americans."
The White House is backing Boggs and Cohen because they're part of an all-or-nothing package of six
judicial nominees that the president agreed to last year with Georgia's Republican senators, Saxby
Chambliss and Johnny Isakson. Obama made major concessions in the deal -- four of the six nominees
are GOP picks and just one is African-American. But the tradeoff for the White House is that other
Democrat-backed nominees in the package can move forward after years of going nowhere.
Abrams isn't part of that package. But it's hard not to see her nomination as the White House trying to
make nice with Democrats. A Chambliss aide said the White House didn't negotiate Abrams' nomination
with Chambliss or Isakson, and neither senator had much to say about her when approached by The
Huffington Post.
"I don't know her. I don't know her at all," Chambliss said. "We will follow the normal course of our
review of her."
Isakson said he doesn't discuss judicial nominations, but said he'll put out a statement about Abrams at
some point.
A White House aide did not respond to a request for comment.
For now, all eyes are on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has yet to schedule a hearing on any of
the Georgia nominees. A committee aide said some paperwork remains unfinished.
Johnson said it's not too late for Obama to withdraw Boggs' nomination and replace him with someone
else.
"That would hurt whatever agreement he had with the senators," Johnson said. "But I would not cry if
the agreement was breached."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/12/obama-judicial-nominee-michaelboggs_n_4952290.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
………
Prosecutor tapped for U.S. judge’s post
AJC Obama makes pick amid turmoil over previous nominees.
By Daniel Malloy dmalloy@ajc.com WASHINGTON — Leslie Joyce Abrams, an assistant U.S. attorney in Atlanta, was
nominated by President Barack Obama on Tuesday for a federal District Court
judge’s post in Middle Georgia — and thrust into a political quagmire over the
state’s judicial nominees.
Georgia Democrats, civil rights leaders and liberal groups have attacked the
White House for a package of six pending judicial nominees that was negotiated
with the input of Georgia’s two Republican senators.
Abrams, the sister of state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, was not precleared by U.S. Sens. Johnny Isak-son and Saxby Chambliss, who would need to
give the go-ahead for her to be considered in committee under Senate custom.
It’s unclear whether the nomination will help thaw White House relations with
Georgia Democrats, who were livid about being shut out of previous negotiations
with the senators and also were not consulted in advance on the Abrams pick.
They wanted more African-American judges and have griped about conservative
aspects of two of the previous nominees’ records.
The White House and other supporters cast Abrams as a well-qualified choice. In
addition to being the first female federal judge in the Middle District if confirmed,
Abrams could become the first African-American female federal judge in the state
if the nomination of DeKalb County State Court Judge Eleanor Ross fails as part of
the disputed package.
Abrams has been a federal prosecutor for four years, participating in nearly 100
cases, ranging from sex crimes against children to bank fraud. She also did
community outreach for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including a partnership with
the Urban League. Before her time as a prosecutor, Abrams worked in civil and
complex litigation with firms in Washington and Atlanta.
Ben Jealous, a former head of the NAACP, has known Leslie and Stacey Abrams
since college. He recalled a case in Mississippi where Leslie Abrams’ work helped
get a pardon for a juvenile who was charged with being a murder accomplice but
was actually victimized by the killer.
“She also, quite frankly, has a range of experiences, from growing up the
daughter of a librarian and a dock worker in southern Mississippi ... to attending
some of the greatest law schools and universities in the country and working right
at the top of the profession ever since,” Jealous said. “That really allows
somebody to empathize and understand a wide range of people in our society
and their predicaments and what justice should look like in their case.”
U.S. Rep. David Scott, an Atlanta Democrat, has been the chief congressional
critic of the previous nominees. But Scott’s chief of staff, Michael Andel, praised
Abrams: “She seems like a good solid pick.”
The previous nominees pending are Atlanta attorney Jill Pryor and District Court
Judge Julie Carnes for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals; and Ross, state Court of
Appeals Judge Michael Boggs, attorney Mark Cohen (former chief of staff for Gov.
Zell Miller) and Atlanta attorney Leigh Martin May for the Northern District of
Georgia.
Boggs, in particular, has been under attack for his positions in the state House
on abortion, same-sex marriage and keeping the Confederate battle emblem on
the Georgia flag.
Liberal groups are pushing Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee to
reject Boggs’ nomination, which would likely torpedo the whole deal.
Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond Law school professor who closely tracks
the judicial nominee process, said the Abrams nomination could be a “helpful
distraction” from the other fight and could sneak through this year if the White
House pushes for her.
As for the other six nominees, Tobias said, “I don’t see any way out of this
mess.”