Durbin, Obama; Annnounce Confirmation of Virginia M. Kendall As Federal District Judge in Northern District of Illinois
DURBIN, OBAMA: ANNOUNCE CONFIRMATION OF VIRGINIA M. KENDALL AS FEDERAL DISTRICT JUDGE IN NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Barack Obama (D-IL) announced that Virginia M. Kendall was confirmed tonight to fill the federal district court vacancy in the Northern District of Illinois. In May, Durbin and Obama, in consultation with Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) submitted Kendall's name to President Bush for his consideration.
"Virginia Kendall is an extraordinary woman who will make a great contribution to the federal judiciary" said Durbin. "Along with Senator Obama and Speaker Dennis Hastert, I strongly supported her nomination. On a bipartisan basis, we reviewed many fine applicants and found Virginia Kendall to be the best. She is a highly respected prosecutor with a stellar reputation for diligence, intelligence and integrity and will bring to the bench a great depth of experience and legal ability."
Ms. Kendall has been a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago since 1995. She received the FBI Director's Letter of Recognition in 1998 for serving as lead counsel in the first Internet kidnapping case in the nation. She also received this award for her work in the United States v. Segal prosecution against a corporate president and his corporation who defrauded individuals of over $30 million. Ms. Kendall won the Chicago Crime Commission Star of Distinction Award in 2004 for her work on the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative and the Coalition Against Child Exploitation. She has served as an Adjunct Professor at Loyola University of Chicago School of Law since 1993, and she worked as a law clerk to Judge George Marovich on the federal district court in Chicago. Ms. Kendall is a graduate of Northwestern University and Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, where she won the First Place Oralist award in the Jessup International Moot Court Competition (U.S. Region). Ms. Kendall was born in Evanston, Illinois and now lives with her husband in Glenview, Illinois. They have three children.
The President traditionally respects the wishes of a home-state senator of his own party in making federal district court nominations. In cases where both U.S. senators are of the opposite party from the President, he usually consults with the highest ranking elected official of his own party. The State of Illinois has a long tradition of seeking bipartisan cooperation in the recommendation of federal district court nominees for Presidential consideration.
http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=250127&&