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77–435 PDF 2002

S. Hrg. 107–259

NOMINATION OF ODESSA F. VINCENT

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON THE

NOMINATION OF ODESSA F. VINCENT TO BE AN ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF

THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

NOVEMBER 6, 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 LESSEN, Counsel

JASON M. YANUSSI, Professional Staff Member

MARIANNE CLIFFORD UPTON, Staff Director and Chief Counsel, Subcommittee on

Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia

HANNAH S. SISTARE, Minority Staff Director and Counsel

JOHANNA, L. HARDY, Minority Counsel

MASON C. ALINGER, Minority Professional Staff Member, Subcommittee on

Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia

DARLA D. CASSELL, Chief Clerk

(III)

C O N T E N T S

Opening statement: Page

Senator Durbin ................................................................................................. 1

WITNESSES

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2001

Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Delegate in Congress from the District of

Columbia ............................................................................................................... 1

Odessa F. Vincent to be an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the

District of Columbia ............................................................................................. 2

Biographical and financial information .......................................................... 5

(1)

NOMINATION OF ODESSA F. VINCENT TO BE

AN ASSOCIATE JUDGE OF THE DISTRICT OF

COLUMBIA SUPERIOR COURT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2001

U.S. SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC.

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:48 p.m., in room

SD–342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Richard J. Durbin,

presiding.

Present: Senator Durbin.

Senator DURBIN. The Committee on Governmental Affairs will

come to order. Good afternoon and welcome. Today, the Senate

Committee on Governmental Affairs holds a hearing to consider the

nomination of Odessa F. Vincent to be an associate judge in the

District of Columbia Superior Court.

On May 24, President Bush nominated Odessa F. Vincent to fill

a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Evelyn Queen. Ms.

Vincent is currently the chief of the narcotics section of the U.S.

Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia. She has been a supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney since 1995. Her prior experience includes work as a trial attorney on the National Church Arson Task

Force, and attorney advisor to the Drug Enforcement Administration. She is a 1984 graduate of Howard University School of Law.

I am certain this is a very special day for you, Ms. Vincent, as

you contemplate this next step in your legal career. Do you have

any family members or colleagues or friends which you would like

to introduce at this point?

Ms. VINCENT. Yes, Senator, I do. I do have colleagues and friends

that are here with me. Patricia Smoot, Ann Rosenfield, Betty Goldman, and Steve and Carol Wilkinson.

Senator DURBIN. I thank them for joining us, too, and showing

encouragement for this important day in your life.

At this point I would also like to welcome my friend, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia who is

here to offer a few words of introduction on behalf of Ms. Vincent.

Congresswoman Norton, please proceed.

TESTIMONY OF HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, A

DELEGATE IN CONGRESS FROM THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Ms. NORTON. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. We have

pressed you into service for yet another D.C. matter and I appreciate your work on this nomination. I am very pleased to introduce

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

to you, Odessa Vincent. Ms. Vincent is essentially a career U.S. Attorney, a career trial attorney, which is perhaps the best preparation for becoming a trial judge in our D.C. Superior Court. Very

well prepared to become a member of the court.

Ms. Vincent has spent most of her career as an Assistant U.S.

Attorney, rising to be chief of the narcotics section of the office of

the U.S. Attorney here in the District of Columbia. Her specialty

in drug matters was such that she was detailed for a couple of

years to the Drug Enforcement Administration office, rising there

to be chief of the criminal law section. Concurrent with her duties

in the Justice Department at the Drug Enforcement Administration she served as a trial attorney with the National Church Arson

Task Force which was specially created to deal with the arsons of

churches and religious properties.

We are not only proud of Ms. Vincent’s distinguished career and

excellent preparation for the bench, we are especially proud that

she is a graduate of our own State university, the University of the

District of Columbia, and of Howard University in 1984. I am very

pleased to recommend her to you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator DURBIN. Thank you very much, Congresswoman Norton.

It is the custom and the tradition in this Committee for us to

swear in our witnesses, Ms. Vincent. If you would be kind enough

to rise and raise your right hand? Do you swear that the testimony

you are about to give is the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,

so help you, God?

Ms. VINCENT. I do.

Senator DURBIN. Thank you. Let the record reflect that the witness answered in the affirmative. If you have any opening remarks,

I invite you to make them at this point in time.

TESTIMONY OF ODESSA F. VINCENT1 TO BE AN ASSOCIATE

JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Ms. VINCENT. Thank you. Just briefly, I would like to say that

I am honored to be here testifying today. I would like to thank the

President for nominating me to be an associate judge of the Superior Court. I would like to thank you, Senator, for having this hearing, and the Committee for moving this matter forward. I can only

say that for me this is just a very great honor and I hope, if it

should pass, that I can serve well for the citizens of the District.

Senator DURBIN. Thank you. You have been recommended not

only by the President, which is high praise, but also by the District’s judicial nominating committee, and gone through the customary investigation. Since your nomination was received in the

Senate you have completed a thorough biographical questionnaire,

which may have been one of the most daunting assignments since

your law exam that we all considered many years ago. The Committee staff has conducted background checks and interviewed you,

and I have reviewed your responses to the questionnaire.

I am going to ask you three standard questions that are part of

this process. First, is there anything that you are aware of in your

3

background that might present a conflict of interest with the duties

of the office to which you have been nominated?

Ms. VINCENT. No.

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. VINCENT. No.

Senator DURBIN. Third, 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. VINCENT. No.

Senator DURBIN. I once observed at an earlier hearing when we

were filling a vacancy in the District of Columbia that this is a long

term that you are being appointed to, and of course, since we only

have 6-year terms, we are very envious here on Capitol Hill. But

I also recall many years ago when I was in private practice that

there were certain judges who were a joy to appear before and

some who were not. I felt that there was a difference in temperament in some judges rather than others. I wonder if you could comment on what you consider to be the temperament of a judge that

we should look for in making this appointment?

Ms. VINCENT. Senator, I think you want to look for a judge who

is always well prepared, who is familiar with the cases that will

come before him or her, and that is, as much as a judge can be,

familiar with the parties and the litigants. I think it helps a judge

to move his or her calendar forward more expeditiously if they are

completely in sync with what is going on in their courtroom. An intelligent, well-prepared judge, I think, is the best kind of judge that

you could appoint.

Senator DURBIN. Now I would like to address the issue of humility, because many who ascend to the bench think they are ascending even higher in life. I wonder if you would comment on that aspect of judicial temperament.

Ms. VINCENT. Senator, all I can say to you is that I am completely humbled by this experience. The judges that I have known,

a number of judges that sit on the Superior Court I have known

before they got to the Superior Court bench and I can only say that

they take their responsibility, as would I, very seriously and realize

that how they are perceived by the public and by the litigants that

come before them is very, very important. They, like I, initially

were very humbled and remain very humbled by the experience.

Senator DURBIN. That is a good response. Some of my colleagues

on the Committee who are voting at this moment may have written

questions that they may submit at some later point, but I do not

have any further questions. I want to thank you for your responses.

They were appropriate and encouraging. I thank your friends and

colleagues for joining you today for this hearing.

The next step in the process will be the prompt consideration of

your nomination at a full Committee markup in the very near future. With that, this hearing is adjourned.

Ms. VINCENT. Thank you.

Senator DURBIN. Thank you.

[Whereupon, at 2:55 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]

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