Senate confirms first Native woman federal judge
Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOENIX (AP) A former U.S. Attorney from Arizona will be the first Native American woman to serve on the federal bench.
Diane Humetewa (hoo-mee-TAY-wah) easily won confirmation Wednesday in the U.S. Senate in a 96-0 vote. She will fill one of six vacancies in the federal District Court of Arizona.
Humetewa currently serves as special counsel at Arizona State University, where she is also a professor. She served as U.S. Attorney for Arizona between 2007 and 2009. She also was an appellate court judge for the Hopi Tribe.
The National Congress of American Indians praised the confirmation, saying Humetewa has dedicated her time to serving the interests of Native peoples.
The overburdened District Court of Arizona remains one of the busiest in the country, having declared a judicial emergency in 2011.
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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2014/05/14/senate_confirms_first_native_woman_federal_judge/
Cha
(295,899 posts)Mahalo, Don
yellerpup
(12,249 posts)She'll be great. Ulihelisdi, Diane!
iandhr
(6,852 posts)sheshe2
(83,319 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)Glad this happened, just find it odd that it hasn't happened before.
Uncle Joe
(58,107 posts)Thanks for the thread, DonViejo.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)happyslug
(14,779 posts)The US Constitution technically gives the power to select the Judges to the President, but subject to Confirmation by the Senate. Since 1789 when it comes to Judges in any one State, the Senate had REFUSED to confirm ANYONE not "Recommended" by that State's Senators. Thus in reality, it is the Senator from the State that actually picks the Judges for that State.
Now, the Judge has to be from the same party as the President, but the selection is made by the Senators from that state
She is from Arizona, and her Senators are McCain and Jeff Flake. I suspect McCain picked her and thus leaves Flake to pick the next Judge.
niyad
(112,424 posts)BootinUp
(46,924 posts)Here4theBeer
(2 posts)One of the Bush appointees post-purge.
Bears watching...
Algernon Moncrieff
(5,780 posts)That said, it's still a great day for Native Americans and women jurists.
okaawhatever
(9,453 posts)former9thward
(31,798 posts)She was fired by Obama in 2009 and now appointed by him to become a federal judge.