Washington, D.C. - Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to join in saluting my good friend Chief United States District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall. Judge Marshall has stepped down from her role as Chief Judge and was honored by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Federal Bar Association on December 6, 2005, for her lifetime commitment to public service.
Judge Marshall has devoted her distinguished career to the struggle for civil rights, justice and tolerance for all people. After service as Deputy City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles, and a period with the firm of Cochran & Atkins, she was appointed as a commissioner on the Los Angeles Superior Court where she was assigned to Juvenile Court, Family Court, and Civil law and Motions. In l976, she became an Inglewood Municipal Court Judge. In l977, she was elevated to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge and assigned to the criminal division. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the United States District Court for the Central District of California and in 2001, she became the first woman to serve as Chief Judge of that District -- an outstanding achievement.
Judge Marshall is an exceptional woman whose accomplishments are legion. The Los Angeles County Bar Association recently named Judge Marshall the Outstanding Jurist of the Year. She is also the recipient of numerous other awards, including the Los Angeles County Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award, the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Thomas Bradley Distinguished Citizen Award, the Women Lawyers Association Los Angeles Ernestine Stahlhut Award, the Langston Bar Association Bernard S. Jefferson Jurist of the Year Award, and many more, too numerous to mention.
In addition to her professional duties, Judge Marshall generously contributes her time and energy to many worthwhile organizations. She currently serves on the Los Angeles Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trail Lawyers. She served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Weingart Center, a non-profit facility providing health and social services for the homeless, and the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. She also served on the United States Sentencing Commission’s Drug Violence Task Force which was created in an effort to understand the relationship between drugs and violence.
Judge Marshall was a well respected and admired faculty member of The Rutter Group and the Trial Advocacy Workshop at Harvard Law School and has lectured extensively in many parts of the world.
It is my distinct honor to salute Consuelo Marshall for the exemplary leadership she has shown as a Judge and for her outstanding contribution to the field of law.
