Obama Nominee Gregg Costa Confirmed to 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Oversees Texas
This afternoon, District Judge Gregg Costa was confirmed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Costa, nominated in December, is the third judge confirmed to the 5th Circuit under President Obama and replaces Clinton appointee Fortunado Benavides. Costa received Yes votes from every present Senator including Texas Republicans John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. However, in his cloture vote to proceed, Costa received only 58 Yes votes. In cloture he earned Republican support from Senators Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Jeff Flake (AZ), and Texas' John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. Judge Costa is the first confirmation to the federal Texas judiciary since Sen. Ted Cruz joined the Senate.
Judge Costa joined the federal judiciary in 2012 as a member of the Houston-based Southern District of Texas; he was stationed in Galveston. Before his appointment, Costa was a lead prosecutor in the US Attorney's Office for Texas' Southern District in the case against R. Allen Stanford, who was eventually convicted in the second-largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history. Costa is a native of Richardson and graduated from Dartmouth College. At the University of Texas law school, he served as editor in chief of the Texas Law Review. He also clerked for US Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist in 2001 and 2002.
The 5th Circuit has two more vacancies waiting to be filled, both are listed as judicial emergencies. The court is now made up of three Obama appointees, two Clinton appointees, four Reagan appointees, and six George W. Bush appointees. With Costa's confirmation, there are now four vacancies waiting to be filled on the Southern District of Texas Judiciary.
Progress Texas has been advocating for President Obama to fill the vacancies in the Texas Judiciary as fast as possible. Learn what their research has to say about the state of the Texas judiciary after the jump.
More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/15256/obama-nominee-gregg-costa-confirmed-to-5th-circuit-court-of-appeals-oversees-texas .
