Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Today’s Judiciary Committee Hearing on Judicial Nominations

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nominations of Nancy Maldonado, nominated to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit; Georgia Alexakis, nominated to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois; Krissa Lanham, nominated to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Arizona; Angela Martinez, nominated to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Arizona; and Sparkle Sooknanan, nominated to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia.

As part of his opening statement, Durbin introduced Judge Maldonado and Ms. Alexakis.

Key Quotes from Durbin’s introduction of Judge Maldonado:

“It is now my pleasure to introduce Judge Maldonado, nominated to the Seventh Circuit.  A native of the Chicagoland area, she received her B.A., cum laude, from Harvard College and her J.D. from Columbia Law School.”

“After clerking for my friend, U.S. District Judge Rubén Castillo, on the Northern District, Judge Maldonado has spent her entire career in private practice, specializing in employment, civil rights, and fraud litigation.”

“In addition to that work in private practice, she served the people of Cook County and the State of Illinois in a variety of capacities.  In the early 2010s, she served as Special Assistant State’s Attorney for Cook County to investigate fraud alleged by a whistleblower.”

“In 2018, she was appointed to serve as a consent decree monitor in two employment discrimination cases.  And in 2021, she served as a Special Assistant Attorney General in Illinois to investigate consumer fraud.”

“In 2022, she was confirmed—on a bipartisan basis—to the Northern District of Illinois, becoming the first Hispanic woman to serve as an Article III judge in Illinois.  Since joining the bench, Judge Maldonado has issued more than 250 written decisions.”

Key Quotes from Durbin’s introduction of Georgia Alexakis:

“A first-generation American, [Ms. Alexakis was raised] in Chicago and received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.”

“She clerked for Judge Marsha Berzon on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for Judge Milton Shadur on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.”

“After beginning her legal career in private practice, she joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois and served as the office’s Deputy Chief of Appeals and as the Civil Rights and Hate Crimes Program Coordinator, working with the FBI to review and identify violations for investigation and prosecution.”

“After spending another year in private practice, Ms. Alexakis returned to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  She currently serves as the Chief of Appeals and supervises the office’s criminal practice in the Seventh Circuit.  Over the course of her career, she has tried ten cases to verdict and argued approximately 30 appeals in the Seventh Circuit.”

“In 2021, she was awarded the Director’s Award by the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys for her successful appeal of the sentence of a defendant convicted of attempting to detonate a bomb in downtown Chicago.”

Video of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s opening statement is available here for TV Stations.

Today’s hearing continues the Committee’s work filling judicial and executive vacancies with highly qualified, diverse candidates who help ensure the fair and impartial administration of the American justice system.  Under the leadership of Chair Durbin, the Senate has confirmed 186 judges to lifetime appointments on the federal bench during the Biden administration. Twelve lifetime judges – including two circuit court nominees and ten district court nominees – are eligible for a vote on the Senate floor.

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