Nomination of Richard C. Wesley to be United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit
Mr. President, I rise to join my colleague from New York in expressing my very strong support for the nomination of New York State Court of Appeals Judge Richard C. Wesley to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
A few weeks ago, I was honored to testify before the Judiciary Committee in support of this nominee because I believe then, as I do today, that he will make a fine addition to the Second Circuit and will serve that court with distinction. I was also pleased to see supporting Judge Wesley's nomination, his mother Beatrice, "Betty" Wesley and his children Sarah and Matthew. They and his wife Kathryn are all very proud of him, and have every reason to be so proud.
The calls and letters of support I have received about Judge Wesley from a wide variety of distinguished members of the legal profession are a testament to his qualities of high intellect, judicial temperament, caring for the profession and, most importantly, commitment to justice.
Having a significant public service record is not a requirement for serving on our Federal judiciary. But it is very significant to note that Judge Wesley has spent most of his career serving the public trying to make New York a better place for our children and families.
He has had a distinguished academic career, graduating summa cum laude from Cornell University Law School. He did have the experience in private practice and in the legislative body, the New York State assembly. He has served on trial and appellate New York courts.
In addition to performing his professional duties to the highest standards, he has taken an interest and taken the time to become involved in other significant pressing problems. As a trial court judge, Judge Wesley instituted a felony screening program in Monroe County that reduced the delays in processing felony cases by over 60 percent. The program proved so successful that it served as a model for judicial districts across our State.
In 1993, he created the JUST Program, which for a decade has provided services to court and criminal justice agencies, again in Monroe County, to monitor preplea and presentence defendants and to provide alternatives, where appropriate, to incarceration.
I am also very impressed that Judge Wesley has been a champion for victims of domestic violence. He has been in the forefront for years in providing shelters for victims of domestic violence, primarily women and their children.
He has championed their rights in court and he has sought to help provide the resources that would give these victims another chance.
After 7 years on the trial court, he was appointed to the appellate division and then to New York's highest appellate court, the New York State Court of Appeals. Judith Kaye, the Chief Judge of that court, cannot say enough about Judge Wesley's contributions. I am sure he will be greatly missed as he starts his new career on the Second Circuit.
This is a very positive nomination. He will not only make his former colleagues proud and he will certainly make lawyers everywhere proud, but he will especially make Western New York proud because once confirmed, Judge Wesley will be the first Western New Yorkerfor those who are not from New York, that includes places such as Rochester, Buffalo, and Jamestown, places on the other end of our very diverse, large Stateto be confirmed as an associate judge of the Second Circuit since 1974.
Although it is very clear that Judge Wesley and I do not agree on every policy or legal issue, and I have no way of knowing how Judge Wesley will vote when these important issues come before him, I have every confidence in his professional preparation, in his temperament and demeanor, in his commitment to justice. He may be a conservative Republican, but he is a judge and an American first.
I join my colleague, the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, in expressing the very strong wish that we could have more nominees like Judge Wesley, someone who comes from a Republican President, who is easily confirmed by a bipartisan majority, proceeded by a unanimous vote in the Judiciary Committee. I predict he will be confirmed on this floor unanimously. Why? Because although Judge Wesley is not of my party, he may not be of my judicial philosophy, he already in his judicial career decided cases differently than I would have, had I been sitting on that bench, he is a person whom we always know will put the interests of justice first, and will preside in a totally nonideological, nonpartisan manner. That is what every judge should be doing.
It is certainly the responsibility of the Senate to advise and consent so that our Federal judiciary, which consists of lifetime appointments, will be filled by people of the caliber of Judge Wesley.
I yield the floor.