FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 16, 2007
CONTACT: Geoff Embler or Jamie Loftus
Senators Hutchison, Cornyn Recommend
O’Connor for Federal Judge
Praise federal prosecutor’s trial experience, commitment to public service
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and John Cornyn (R-TX) today recommended that President Bush nominate Reed O’Connor to fill the federal district court vacancy that will be created in November when Chief Judge A. Joe Fish of the Northern District takes senior status later this year.
“We are pleased to recommend an individual of Reed O’Connor’s caliber to serve in the federal judicial system,” Senators Hutchison and Cornyn said. “We are confident that he will serve our nation with honor and we are proud to recommend him to the President.”
Mr. O’Connor, a native Texan and veteran Assistant United States Attorney, is a well-respected prosecutor who tried a substantial number of criminal cases during eight years of service at the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas. He is highly regarded within the Northern District bar by federal judges, criminal defense attorneys and fellow prosecutors.
Mr. O’Connor graduated second in his class, summa cum laude, from South Texas College of Law (J.D., 1989), and was a member of the South Texas Law Review. Prior to his prosecutorial career, he was a civil litigator for five years at a major Texas law firm.
In 2003, the Department of Justice detailed Mr. O’Connor, an expert in federal criminal law, to serve as Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C. He advised then-Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and drafted important legislation on terrorism, alien smuggling, cyber-crime, child pornography, sentencing reform, violent crime and drug policy. The Department of Justice detailed Mr. O’Connor again in 2005 to serve as Chief Counsel to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Citizenship, where he currently remains on detail and advises on federal criminal law, national security law, immigration policy, FOIA and international human rights law.
“Reed O’Connor’s experience in the federal courts qualifies him to serve on the federal bench,” said Sen. Hutchison. “His background in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and at the Department of Justice will prove valuable in adjudicating cases.”
“As a former Texas Supreme Court Justice, I know how important it is to choose a candidate who has the temperament, intellect and experience to make the critical legal decisions that will guide our society and its citizens,” Sen. Cornyn said. “Knowing firsthand his personal character, professional integrity and profound commitment to fairness and the rule of law, I can say without question that Reed O’Connor will make an outstanding federal judge.”
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