Prepared Floor Statement of Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley
Nominations of Sharon L. Gleason to be United States District Judge for the District of Alaska and Yvonne Gonzales Rogers to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of California
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Mr. President:
Today the Senate will confirm two more of President Obama’s judicial nominees. If my colleagues feel like they’ve been spending a lot of time on the Senate floor voting on judicial nominees, I would tell them they have. In just a little over a month, we have confirmed 20 Article III judicial nominees for lifetime appointments. In total, the Senate has confirmed 71 percent of the President’s judicial nominees since he took office.
I’d like to say a few words about the nominees.
First, Sharon Gleason is nominated to be United States District Judge for the District of Alaska. Judge Gleason received her Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis in 1979 and her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Davis, School of Law in 1983. She then served as a law clerk for Chief Justice Edmond Burke of the Alaska Supreme Court.
After her clerkship, Judge Gleason became an associate at the law firm Reese, Rice, and Volland in Anchorage, Alaska where she worked on a variety of civil litigation. Judge Gleason became a partner in 1989 and remained at the firm until 1995 when she became a sole practitioner.
In 2001, Judge Gleason was appointed to the Anchorage Superior Court by then Governor Tony Knowles. She was retained by voters in 2004 and again in 2010.
The American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has rated Judge Gleason with a unanimous “Well Qualified” rating.
We will also be voting on Yvonne Gonzales Rogers. She is nominated to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of California
Judge Gonzalez Rogers earned her Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 1987, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas, Austin School of Law in 1991.
She began her legal career with Cooley LLP and served as a member of the General Business Litigation practice and the Real Estate Litigation practice. She focused on large and complex civil litigation matters, including real estate and technology-related litigation.
In addition to her legal practice, Judge Gonzalez Rogers also chaired the Judiciary Committee for the northern California Hispanic National Bar Association and the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association. In these roles, she investigated candidates for the judiciary and recommended endorsement where appropriate.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Judge Gonzalez Rogers as a Superior Court Judge for the State of California on July 25, 2008. She was re-elected without opposition in 2010.
The American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has rated Judge Gonzales Rogers with a unanimous “Qualified” rating.
I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
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