Nomination of Roger T. Benitez to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of California

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
SENATE

NOMINATION OF ROGER T. BENITEZ TO BE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I oppose the nomination of Roger T. Benitez to be a United States District Judge for the Southern District of California because this nominee received a rating by the American Bar Association of "substantial majority Not Qualified." More than 10 members of the 15-member ABA evaluation committee agreed that Magistrate Judge Benitez is unqualified for this position. The ABA conducts thorough background investigations of all of the President's Article III judicial nominees.

At the February 25, 2004 nomination hearing of Judge Benitez, ABA officials made the following statements on the record:

JUDGE BENITEZ IS "ARROGANT, POMPOUS, CONDESCENDING, IMPATIENT, SHORT-TEMPERED, RUDE, INSULTING, BULLYING, UNNECESSARILY MEAN, AND ALTOGETHER LACKING IN PEOPLE SKILLS."

JUDGE BENITEZ "WOULD OFTEN BECOME IRRATIONALLY UPSET AND OUTRAGED IF AN ATTORNEY WHO HAD BEEN APPOINTED TO REPRESENT A DEFENDANT HAD A SCHEDULING CONFLICT AND ASKED ANOTHER EQUALLY COMPETENT AND PREPARED ATTORNEY TO APPEAR BEFORE THE NOMINEE."

INTERVIEWEES HAD "GRAVE DOUBTS ABOUT JUDGE BENITEZ' ABILITY TO COMPETENTLY HANDLE THE MORE DEMANDING DOCKET CASELOAD OF A FEDERAL DISTRICT JUDGE AND EFFICIENTLY MANAGE A DISTRICT COURTROOM, BASED ON THEIR PERCEPTION OF HIS VERY SLOW AND RIGID MANNER OF HANDLING HIS CURRENT COURT CALENDAR."

"BASED ON THEIR EXPOSURE TO THE NOMINEE'S MODE OF RELATING PROFESSIONALLY TO OTHERS IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS A JUDGE, INTERVIEWEES EXPRESSED DOUBT OVER JUDGE BENITEZ'S ABILITY TO BECOME AN ACCOMMODATING AND COLLEGIAL MEMBER OF THE FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT."

"[T]HE NOMINEE'S TEMPERAMENT PROBLEMS ARE COMPOUNDED BY THE FACT THAT JUDGE BENITEZ FAILS TO APPRECIATE THE DEPTH OF CONCERN BY THE BENCH AND BAR REGARDING HIS TEMPERAMENT AND HAS NOT DEMONSTRATED THAT HE IS WILLING OR ABLE TO ADDRESS THOSE CONCERNS."

"OUR COMMITTEE MEMBERS, AFTER REVIEWING MY REPORT ON THE NOMINEE, WERE PARTICULARLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE CLEAR, CONSISTENT PATTERN TO THE CRITICISMS THAT EMERGED FROM THE INTERVIEW."

These statements are highly troubling, and they strongly suggest that Judge Benitez is not prepared for this important lifetime position.

I am also concerned about the ABA's discovery that Judge Benitez has a practice of limiting the number of guilty pleas that he accepts on a given day. The ABA said that this practice was "highly unusual compared to most other Federal judges, who will typically hear several matters in a day of the kind Judge Benitez has on his docket."

The ABA did not make these allegations or reach the rating of Not Qualified lightly. The ABA investigator, Richard M. Macias, conducted interviews with 23 judges and 44 attorneys, and two-thirds of those interviewed raised concerns, including a majority of both judges and lawyers. The comments were based on first-hand knowledge or observation. The ABA reports that "[t]he negative comments about Judge Benitez' temperament reflected a consistent pattern over the years up to the present time."

Mr. Macias, a respected member of the legal profession and an experienced ABA investigator, said that he has never received so many negative comments about a judicial nominee in the 10 years he has been conducting background investigations. Mr. Macias was supported in his testimony by Thomas Z. Hayward, Jr., a respected Chicago attorney and chair of the ABA's Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary.

When he took office, President George W. Bush abolished the historic practice-dating back to President Eisenhower-of seeking the views of the ABA, the Nation's largest association of attorneys, before making an Article III judicial nomination. One of the main reasons that presidents waited for the ABA evaluation was to avoid nominating unqualified nominees and prevent situations like the one we face today with Judge Benitez. Past Presidents often decided not to nominate individuals who received ABA ratings of Not Qualified. President Bush would be wise to reinstate the ABA's traditional role in the judicial nomination process.