Norton's Judicial Nominees Expected to Be Confirmed by Senate

December 1, 2010 

WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved D.C. Superior Court Judge James "Jeb" E. Boasberg and Amy Berman Jackson, two of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton's (D-DC) recommendations to President Obama for U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia.  President Obama extended Norton senatorial courtesy to recommend candidates for important federal law enforcement positions in the District. 

"Both of these nominees are District residents and have had extraordinary legal careers, including extensive trial and litigation experience with matters typically tried in the court where they will serve," said Norton.  Boasberg and Jackson will join Norton's two other U.S. District Court judge nominees, Beryl Howell and Robert Wilkins, who have been reported out of committee and are awaiting confirmation.  The Congresswoman said she is confident that all four nominees will be confirmed by the full Senate.

Jackson, a Member at the D.C. litigation law firm Trout Cacheris PLLC, graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School, clerked for Judge Harrison L. Winter of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, and served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, where she was one of the first women to try first-degree murder cases.  Jackson has litigated more than 50 jury trials, and has represented clients in complex civil and white collar criminal cases, which have included securities class action, mass tort, health care fraud, government contracts and antitrust matters.

Judge Boasberg, a native Washingtonian, has been an Associate Judge on the D.C. Superior Court since 2002.  He graduated from Yale College, where he played varsity basketball for four years, from Oxford University with a M.St. in Modern European History and from Yale Law School.  He clerked for Judge Dorothy W. Nelson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit; served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, where he tried more than 40 felony jury trials; and worked in private practice.

Norton's previous recommendation for U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ronald Machen, has been confirmed and is currently serving.  Last month, President Obama nominated two of Norton's recommendations for Senate confirmation, Edwin Donovan Sloane for U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia, and Esteban Soto, III for U.S. Marshal for the Superior Court for the District of Columbia.