Obama Taps API Lesbian To Be Federal Judge

President Obama has nominated the fifth openly gay or lesbian person, Pamela Ki Mai Chen, to a position as a federal judge. If confirmed by the United States Senate, Chen would be only the second Chinese-American federal judge in history, and one of only a handful of openly LGBT members of the federal judiciary. Previously, three of Obama's openly LGBT nominees, J. Paul Oetken, Ali Nathan and Michael Fitzgerald have been confirmed, with Edmund Dumont withdrawing his nomination when the Senate Judiciary committee refused to schedule a hearing on his nomination for 18 months.

The Washington Blade reports:

In a statement, Obama said, “I am proud to nominate this outstanding candidate to serve on the United States District Court bench. Pamela Chen has a long and distinguished record of service, and I am confident she will serve on the federal bench with distinction.”

According to biographical information, Chen has been an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York for 14 years — with the exception of a four-month period in 2008 when she served as New York State Division of Human Rights’s Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement.

As a U.S. attorney, Chen served has held different supervisory positions, including chief of the civil rights section and deputy chief of the public integrity section. She’s specialized in criminal civil rights matters, such as human trafficking, and has provided training to law enforcement on the issue.

Prior to being a U.S. attorney, Chen was a trial attorney in the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Justice Department. She began her legal career in D.C., at the criminal defense firm of Asbill, Junkin, Myers & Buffone and at the law firm of Arnold & Porter after receiving her law degree in 1986 from the Georgetown University.

A first-generation American, Chen’s parents came to the United States as immigrants from China and met in the United States at the University of Chicago during World War II.

Chen was recommended to the Eastern District of New York by that state's senior U.S. Senator, Chuck Schumer.

Congratulations to Ms. Chen. Here's hoping that her nomination can be confirmed before the end of this Congress.

Openly Gay Federal Judge Nominee Has Low-Key Hearing

J. Paul Oetken, potentially the first openly gay man to become a federal judge, had an uneventful hearing before the United States Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday March 16th, with no Republican opposition.

Chris Geidner of Metro Weekly reports:

J. Paul Oetken, an out gay attorney who worked at Jenner & Block and Debevoise & Plimpton, also spent substantial time in government, working in both the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and the White House under President Clinton. A former law clerk to the late Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, Oetken currently serves as the senior vice president and associate general counsel at Cablevision.

He was nominated, on Schumer's recommendation, for a judgeship on the Southern District of New York -- one of the key federal trial courts in the nation.

In Schumer's introduction of Oetken, the senator noted that, in addition to records of excellence and moderation, "I also look for candidates who bring diverse views and backgrounds to the bench. Paul is the first openly gay man to go through an Article III confirmation process in this country, which makes this moment historic. But long after today, what the history books will note about Paul is certain to be his achievements as a fair and brilliant judge."

We'll be monitoring the progress of this nomination carefully. It is doubtful that one of the rabidly anti-gay Republican members of the United States Senate will skip this opportunity to  curry favor with heterosexual supremacists and prevent an openly gay man from making history as a federal judge, even one as obviously well-qualified as Oetken.

The question is, how hard will the Democratic majority and the President fight to confirm the President's nominees, especially in light of the very real prospect of loss of Senate control in 2012.

White House Rejects Openly Gay Federal Judge Nominee

Daniel Alter, who was set to become the first openly gay man nominated to a federal judgeship by Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) has had his potential nomination quashed by the Obama White House.

The Washington Blade has the scoop:

The White House has rejected the recommended nomination of a New York attorney who would have become the first openly gay man to sit on the federal bench, because of comments he reportedly made about the Pledge of Allegiance and Christmas that were deemed anti-Christian.

In February, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) recommended the nomination of Daniel Alter to serve as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Presidents traditionally follow the guidance of senators from the state where there’s a vacancy for judicial nominations.

But informed sources told the Washington Blade that the White House rejected Alter’s nomination because of remarks he reportedly made regarding a case challenging inclusion of the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. In addition, the White House reportedly objected to remarks that Alter made suggesting that merchants not wish shoppers “Merry Christmas” during the holidays.

Interestingly, in a little noted move on September 23rd, Sen. Schumer has also nominated another openly gay man, J. Paul Oetken, to become a federal judge in the same district that Alter was intended to be nominated for, the U.S. District for the Southern District of New York.

We shall see if the Obama Administration accepts the nomination of Oetken, who hopefully has been vetted even more completely for nothing that conservative Republicans can object to.