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75–482 PDF 2002

S. Hrg. 107–161

NOMINATION OF LYNN C. LEIBOVITZ

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

(

(II)

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman

CARL LEVIN, Michigan

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii

RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois

ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey

MAX CLELAND, Georgia

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware

JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri

MARK DAYTON, Minnesota

FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee

TED STEVENS, Alaska

SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine

GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio

PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico

THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi

ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah

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

(III)

C O N T E N T S

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

(1)

NOMINATION OF LYNN C. LEIBOVITZ TO BE

AN ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR

COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

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

2

1 Biographical and financial information appear in the Appendix on page 5.

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. LEIBOVITZ1 TO BE AN ASSOCIATE

JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Ms. LEIBOVITZ. I would. Thank you.

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

3

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 nonprofessionals, 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, limVerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:08 Feb 04, 2002 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 75482.TXT SAFFAIRS PsN: SAFFAIRS
4

ited 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.]

(5)

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