Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.WASHINGTON — John Gerrard appeared on track Tuesday to become Nebraska's next federal judge — as long as the gears of government turn quickly enough.
President Barack Obama has nominated Gerrard, a judge on the Nebraska Supreme Court, to succeed District Judge Richard Kopf, who is retiring Dec. 1.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a nomination hearing Tuesday at which Gerrard appeared, alongside several other nominees, to answer questions.
Nebraska's U.S. senators, Democrat Ben Nelson and Republican Mike Johanns, spoke at the hearing on Gerrard's behalf.
Nelson urged the committee to send Gerrard forward, and soon.
That's important because the U.S. Senate can move slowly when it comes to confirming presidential nominees.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said Tuesday's hearing made it clear Gerrard should be easily confirmed.
But Tobias also pointed to the bottleneck that exists with more than two dozen nominees already approved by the committee and now awaiting confirmation by the full Senate.
In contrast to the grilling that some controversial nominees have faced, Tuesday's hearing was a pretty laid-back affair.
When asked about the overall functioning of federal courts, Gerrard pointed out that the U.S. District Court in Nebraska has been one of the first to move toward televising its proceedings.
He called that an improvement that will allow people to see justice being done.
That attitude should go a long way with the committee's top Republican, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who has pushed to televise federal court proceedings.
Contact the writer:
202-630-4823, joe.morton@owh.com
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