[Senate Hearing 107-161]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
S. Hrg. 107-161
NOMINATION OF LYNN C. LEIBOVITZ
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HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
ON THE
NOMINATION OF LYNN C. LEIBOVITZ TO BE AN ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF THE
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
__________
JULY 26, 2001
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Governmental Affairs
_______
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COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman
CARL LEVIN, Michigan FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii TED STEVENS, Alaska
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
MAX CLELAND, Georgia PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi
JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah
MARK DAYTON, Minnesota JIM BUNNING, Kentucky
Joyce A. Rechtschaffen, Staff Director and Counsel
Cynthia Gooen Lesser, Counsel
Jason M. Yanussi, Professional Staff Member
Marianne Clifford Upton, Staff Director and Chief Counsel, Oversight of
Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia
Subcommittee
Hannah S. Sistare, Minority Staff Director and Counsel
Johanna, L. Hardy, Minority Counsel
Mason C. Alinger, Minority Professional Staff Member, Oversight of
Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia
Subcommittee
Darla D. Cassell, Chief Clerk
C O N T E N T S
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Opening statement:
Page
Senator Durbin............................................... 1
WITNESSES
Thursday, July 26, 2001
Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Delegate in Congress from the
District of Columbia........................................... 1
Lynn C. Leibovitz to be an Associate Judge of the Superior Court
of the District of Columbia.................................... 2
Biographical and financial information....................... 5
NOMINATION OF LYNN C. LEIBOVITZ TO BE AN ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF THE
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2001
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Governmental Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:35 a.m., in
room SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Richard
Durbin presiding.
Present: Senator Durbin.
OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR DURBIN
Senator Durbin [presiding]. The hearing will come to order.
Good morning and welcome to you, and I am going to try to catch
my breath here. I just came up the steps. We have problems with
elevators over here. The Committee on Governmental Affairs is
holding this hearing to consider the nomination of Lynn
Leibovitz to be an Associate Judge on the District of Columbia
Superior Court.
I would like to, before I go into background, recognize
Delegate Norton for her statement.
TESTIMONY OF HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, A DELEGATE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Ms. Norton. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is with both
pleasure and pride that I introduce a Washingtonian who comes
especially well-prepared, in my judgment, for your
consideration for the post of Associate Judge on our D.C.
Superior Court, a court on which she clerked and would now
serve. Ms. Leibovitz has spent most of her legal career as an
Assistant U.S. Attorney, rising to be Deputy Chief and now
Acting Chief of the Homicide Division. She has been recognized
by the U.S. Attorney for superior performance, and by the
Justice Department with special awards. She has been an adjunct
professor in trial practice at Georgetown, from which she
graduated in 1985. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown
University. Ms. Leibovitz has been very active in our local bar
and in volunteering to work with children and rebuilding
neighborhoods. I strongly recommend her for your consideration,
for our Superior Court.
Senator Durbin. Thank you, Delegate Norton, for that kind
introduction, and I am sure Ms. Leibovitz appreciates it, as
well. I am sure this is a special day for you, as you
contemplate the next step in your legal career. You have some
members of your family with you today; is that correct?
Ms. Leibovitz. Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do.
Senator Durbin. Would you be kind enough to introduce them
for the record?
TESTIMONY OF LYNN C. LEIBOVITZ\1\ TO BE AN ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF
THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Ms. Leibovitz. I would. Thank you.
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\1\ Biographical and financial information appear in the Appendix
on page 5.
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Thank you, Congresswoman Norton, for the kind introduction.
First of all, thank you, Senator Durbin, for the privilege
of appearing before you today and for scheduling this hearing
before the August break. I would like to introduce the friends
and family that are with me. I have a number of colleagues from
the U.S. Attorney's Office, almost all of whom serve now or
have served in the Homicide Section, that I worked in: My good
friends, Cynthia and Mark Simonson, are here; retired Sergeant
Frank Morgan of the Metropolitan Police Department, is here;
and finally, my husband, Ben Hecht, and my mother, Joan
Leibovitz, and my father, Judge William Leibovitz from New
York, are here.
I also, if I may, would like to take the opportunity to
thank President Bush and the D.C. Judicial Nominating
Commission for the honor of this nomination.
Senator Durbin. Well, I am certain that they have chosen
well.
Ms. Leibovitz. Thank you.
Senator Durbin. As this brief hearing will demonstrate,
there is little controversy associated with this nomination. I
am sure that comes as no great disappointment. There is one
peculiarity about the procedure of this Committee, which I will
now acquaint you with, and that is that we swear in our
witnesses. So I am going to ask you to please stand and raise
your right hand. Do you swear the testimony you are about to
give before this Committee is the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth?
Ms. Leibovitz. I do.
Senator Durbin. Thank you. Let it be noted for the record
that the witness answered in the affirmative.
Aside from your opening remarks, is there anything that you
would like to add at this point?
Ms. Leibovitz. Nothing else. Thank you. I would be happy to
answer any questions that you have.
Senator Durbin. Well, everyone who goes through this
process, as you know, is given a very brief little
questionnaire to fill out, which probably took a few days.
Ms. Leibovitz. It did, a few nights.
Senator Durbin. It takes trying to remember everything that
ever happened to you in your life and putting it on the record.
I have had a chance to review it, and everything looks
excellent. You were recommended by the District's Judicial
Nominating Committee. You have been subjected to a background
investigation and selected and nominated by the President.
Since we have received your nomination, you have completed this
thorough questionnaire we have referred to, and the staff has
reviewed it.
I have spoken to the investigators, and I am just going to
ask you some very general questions which obviously do not
reflect on your education or skill and professional ability,
because I think those are all clear from your record, but some
of them are very general in nature. For the record, first, is
there anything that you are aware of in your background that
might present a conflict of interest with the duties of the
office to which you have been nominated?
Ms. Leibovitz. Nothing that I am aware of.
Senator Durbin. Second, do you know of any reason, personal
or otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from fully and
honorably discharging the responsibilities of the office to
which you have been nominated?
Ms. Leibovitz. No reason whatsoever.
Senator Durbin. Do you know of any reason, personal or
otherwise, that would in any way prevent you from serving the
full term for the office to which you have been nominated?
Ms. Leibovitz. No, I know of no reason.
Senator Durbin. I recall--it has been a few years now--
practicing before Federal judges in Springfield, Illinois. I
suppose the one thing that I noted was the temperament issue,
and you may have noted the same in your practice. Could you
comment on this issue of judicial temperament, because those
who are given either lifetime or long-term appointments
occasionally--rarely--but occasionally lapse into some sort of
a feeling of elevation and ascendancy that takes them away from
the realm of reality. I would like your thoughts on that.
Ms. Leibovitz. Well, I have had the opportunity to observe
many judges in action, both professionally and personally,
because my father is a judge, and for that reason I think I can
keep the position in perspective. I think that the traits that
would make the most perfect judge are very hard to come by in
one person. However, I think that a great degree of respect for
other people, no matter who they are, whether they are
professionals or whether they are non-professionals, no matter
what walk of life they come from, is the most important thing
that a judge can bring. A sense of humility is another
important trait. Brains and efficiency are two good things to
have, and they have to be tempered by a degree of humanity, and
those are all traits that I hope I can pull together.
Senator Durbin. I always hoped that judges would remember
when they, too, were just lawyers, and what life was like. I
hope that you will have that recollection. Reflect for a moment
on your experience in this Homicide Division; what have you
learned about the law and yourself in that process?
Ms. Leibovitz. My experience in the homicide practice has
been the most exciting and most valuable thing I think I have
ever done, other than having children, and what I have learned
from it, as I think of all the things I have just described,
which is a degree of personal humility in interacting with
other people, no matter who they are. We come into contact with
a lot of people who come from very challenging personal
circumstances, families who have lost loved ones through
unspeakable events, and witnesses who themselves have criminal
backgrounds, substance abuse problems, limited education and
every other possible kind of difficulty. I have learned that
every one of them brings something to the process that I am a
part of, and learned that showing respect for them and allowing
them to show me what they can do is the most important thing
that I bring to the process. It empowers them and it helps me
do my job. I think that that is something I would bring to the
bench.
Senator Durbin. You have undoubtedly worked with victims'
families and loved ones in this process.
Ms. Leibovitz. Yes.
Senator Durbin. What do you think the courts can do to be
more sensitive to their experience?
Ms. Leibovitz. I think that the courts can, first of all,
become more effective at managing the calendars. I think that
the families of homicide victims are very much affected by how
long the process takes, and I often find myself wishing that I
could explain to them why things take so long, other than just
to keep on saying court congestion. So I do think that basic
management of the calendar is something that the courts can
look to, and I also think that the same humanity I have been
talking about is something that is important to remember, that
the victims and the victims' families look to the court for
some degree of solace and resolution, and that a few minutes or
a few words by a judge can make a big difference to them.
Senator Durbin. Thank you. I do not have any further
questions. I want to thank you for, obviously, being here today
and your responses. They were very appropriate and encouraging.
I want to thank your family for joining you. I am sure they are
very proud today. I understand you interrupted a family
vacation to come back to Washington today.
Ms. Leibovitz. Yes, I did.
Senator Durbin. I know how anxious you and the court are to
have you confirmed and vested in office, and I am glad that we
could work this hearing in before we do break in just a week or
two. The next step in the process will be the prompt
consideration of your nomination in the full Committee markup
in the near future and reporting to the full Senate for final
action. I am going to encourage Chairman Lieberman to move as
quickly as possible on this, and I hope that we do not have to
interrupt your vacation again to bring you back for any reason.
But I thank you for coming today and for everyone's support and
encouragement.
With that, this hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 9:45 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
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