Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following statement after the White House nominated Judge Leonard Strand to serve on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.

Grassley recommended Strand to the White House after an extensive effort by a Judicial Selection Commission that Grassley formed after two judges announced their intention to take senior status.  The Commission was comprised of highly qualified members of the Iowa legal community, and led by Cynthia Moser, a former Iowa State Bar Association president. The Commission also included Richard Sapp, Jeffrey Goodman, Harlan D. Hockenberg, and Adam Freed.  

These lawyers spent hundreds of hours carefully reviewing applications and interviewing each of the 39 Iowans who submitted applications and sought consideration.  Eleven applicants were then selected to participate in a lengthy second interview.  The Commission’s review included not only these interviews, but also a thorough study and examination of the applicants’ professional history, credentials, and qualifications.  The Commission then made recommendations to Grassley, who reviewed the candidates and their qualifications before submitting his recommendations to the White House.  

Here is Grassley’s comment on today’s announcement.
“Judge Strand has impeccable credentials and very much deserves this nomination.  I appreciate the White House working with me to move his nomination forward.  The five commissioners who made the recommendation to me, and spent hundreds of hours to vet dozens of very qualified candidates, deserve a lot of credit.  I’m confident, like the White House, that Judge Strand will serve with distinction.”

Here is an op-ed that appeared in the Des Moines Register about the selection process.

The Des Moines Register, April 14, 2015
Working to Secure Iowa’s Judicial Legacy
by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley
 
This year, Chief Judge James E. Gritzner of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa and former Chief Judge Mark W. Bennett of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa take senior status and cap off a combined 37 years of extraordinary public service to our state.

Their vacancies provide a rare opportunity to select new federal judges in Iowa.  With broad jurisdiction spanning civil and criminal court cases, the dockets wield extensive influence.  In the checks and balances of our system of government, these judges are guardians of the Constitution and the individual rights and liberties it secures.

In Iowa, a rich legal heritage took root even before Iowa became the 29th state in 1846.  In 1845, the 28th Congress created the District Court of Iowa.  In 1869, the first woman in the country admitted to practice law was an Iowan named Arabella “Belle Babb” Mansfield.  Congress later split Iowa into Northern and Southern Districts and, since 1882, these two federal district courts and the judges who have served on them have been charged with the impartial administration of justice for Iowans.  

In Washington, by tradition, U.S. senators make recommendations to the President for federal judicial vacancies in their home states.  In anticipation of the Gritzner and Bennett vacancies, last December, I announced a search for candidates to recommend to the President.  The goal was to make it possible for any Iowa lawyer to apply and to identify outstanding nominees.

To receive and review candidates, I established a Judicial Selection Commission comprised of first-rate members of the Iowa legal community.  Led by Cynthia Moser, of Sioux City, who previously served as President of the Iowa State Bar Association, other members of the Commission included Richard Sapp, Jeffrey Goodman, Harlan D. Hockenberg, and Adam Freed.  

These highly respected lawyers devoted hundreds of hours and countless days to the careful review of applications.  The Commission interviewed every single one of the 39 Iowans who submitted an application and sought consideration.  Eleven applicants participated in lengthy second interviews.  The Commission’s review included not only these interviews but also careful study and examination of applicants’ professional history, credentials, and qualifications.  From this pool, the Commission had the unenviable task of narrowing the field to the recommendations it gave me.  Without a doubt, the Commissioners’ own experience, expertise, and commitment to an exhaustive process made possible a review and analysis that was extraordinary by any measure.

I also have consulted with U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, whose support any potential nominee will need in order to proceed after the President’s nomination.  For nearly a century, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has brought nominees up for committee consideration only after both home-state senators have signed and returned what’s known as a “blue slip.”  This tradition is designed to encourage outstanding nominees and consensus between the White House and home-state senators.  Over the years, Judiciary Committee chairs of both parties have upheld a blue-slip process including Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, my immediate predecessor in chairing the committee, who steadfastly honored the tradition even as some in his own party called for its demise.  I appreciate the value of the blue-slip process and also intend to honor it.  

Now, based on all of the work that went into an effort that welcomed candidates and resulted in judicious consideration by a five-member panel of Iowa lawyers, I’m pleased to recommend to the President Leonard Strand for the Northern District of Iowa and Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger for the Southern District of Iowa.

Strand currently serves as a U.S. magistrate judge in Sioux City for the Northern District of Iowa.  He graduated first in his class from the College of Law at the University of Iowa and brings extensive experience in civil litigation from private practice in Cedar Rapids.  Ebinger is a state district judge in Polk County.  She graduated from Yale Law School, was an assistant U.S. attorney in both the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa, and clerked for Judge Michael J. Melloy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

These two Iowans are well suited to honor Iowa’s judicial legacy and serve our state, nation, and Constitution with distinction in lifetime appointments to the federal judiciary.  


U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of New Hartford serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is responsible for approving the President’s Article III judicial nominations, including nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court, 13 judicial circuits and 94 U.S. district courts, including Iowa’s Northern and Southern Districts.

 

 

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