Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise to support the nomination of Justice Lance Walker of Maine to serve on the U.S. District Court for the State of Maine. With nearly two decades of experience as both an attorney and as a judge in Maine, Justice Walker is well-qualified for the Federal bench.

Justice Walker is a lifelong Mainer, where he lives with his wife Heidi and their two daughters, Ava and Dylan. He was born in the small town of Milo and raised in Dover-Foxcroft. He graduated from the University of Maine and from the University of Maine School of Law, with honors. He clerked for the Maine Superior Court before entering private practice.

Early in his career, Justice Walker distinguished himself as a skilled trial and appellate attorney at the law firm of Norman, Hanson & DeTroy, one of the premier law firms in Maine. He tried cases before juries and judges throughout Maine and in Federal Court and was selected for recognition in respected peer-reviewed legal publications such as Benchmark Litigation, Super Lawyers, and Best Lawyers in America.

In 2014, Justice Walker was unanimously confirmed to the Maine District Court by the Maine State Senate. He adjudicated a wide variety of cases primarily in Androscoggin and Oxford Counties. A year later, Justice Walker was nominated to serve on the Maine Superior Court, Maine's trial court of general jurisdiction, a post to which he was also unanimously confirmed. Justice Walker has presided over complex criminal and civil cases, appeals, postconviction reviews, and jury trials.

As a judge, Justice Walker has spoken with recovering addicts and caregivers about opioid addiction and its intersection with the criminal justice system, an issue that is of urgent importance to communities across Maine.

The Judiciary Committee received several letters of support from legal professionals in Maine who know Justice Walker well, including from attorneys who have appeared before him, and from the Maine Trial Lawyers Association. Justice Walker has a reputation for fairness and respect for the law. As Daniel Wathen, former chief justice of the Maine Supreme Court, wrote: ``I have known a lot of lawyers and judges in my fifty three year legal career in Maine, and I can think of no one who is better qualified to assume the trial bench in the federal court system. Having served on the Supreme Court of Maine for more than twenty years, I believe that I can recognize a good judge. Lance's nomination is well deserved and if confirmed, he will serve with integrity, competence, and humanity. In short, he will add to the strength and stature of the distinguished federal bench in Maine.''

Justice Walker has the intellect, experience, integrity, temperament, and respect for the Constitution and the rule of law that are essential in a Federal judge. His experience in private practice and as a State judge makes him well-qualified for the Federal district court, and if confirmed, he will serve the people of Maine and the Nation fairly and capably.

I urge my colleagues to support this nomination.

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