3 judges selected for federal bench
President Barack Obama has nominated three candidates to fill long-standing vacancies on the federal bench for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
If confirmed by the Senate, the trio would shore up a court that hasn't operated with a full complement of judges for years. The nominees are Susan Paradise Baxter, a federal magistrate judge; Robert John Colville, an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge; and Marilyn Jean Horan, a Butler County Common Pleas judge. They were vetted by the judicial selection panel jointly established by Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey.
Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who is an expert on the federal judicial selection process, said the nominations were welcome for a depleted bench, but he warned that the Senate’s recent track record didn’t suggest that their confirmations should be expected any time soon.
“It’s especially important because [the Western District has] only 10 authorized spots for active judges,” he said, “So, since 2013, a third of the bench has been vacant ... that backs up the dockets, puts more pressure on judges. It especially delays civil cases.’’
He said the fact that they enjoyed bipartisan support from the two senators could ease the confirmation process, but he noted that only five federal judges have been confirmed across the country this year, a pace he said was the slowest in decades.
“I can’t be very optimistic about how quickly that will happen,” he said of their prospects of clearing the Senate. “My guess is, based on what we’ve seen this year, it could be until next year.’’
Judge Colville has served on the local bench since 2000. Since 2012, he has also been a member of the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline. Previously, Judge Colville worked as an associate at the law firm of Pietragallo Bosick & Gordon. He was a law clerk from 1992 to 1994 for the late Ralph J. Cappy, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Judge Colville received his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law in 1992 and his B.A. from Penn State University in 1989.
Judge Baxter has been a United States magistrate judge in the Western District since 1995. She served as chief magistrate judge from 2005 to 2009. Prior to her appointment, she worked briefly as the court solicitor for Erie County’s Court of Common Pleas. From 1983 to 1992, she worked at the Washington, D.C., law firm of Cole, Raywid & Braverman (now Davis Wright Tremaine LLP), where she was a partner. She is a graduate of Temple University School of Law and also holds a M.Ed. from Temple and a B.S. from Penn State University.
Judge Horan has been a Butler County judge since 1996. The first female judge in Butler County history, she serves in the court’s civil division. From 1979 to 1996, Judge Horan worked at the law firm of Murrin, Taylor, Flach and Horan, where she rose to partner in 1982. She received her J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1979 and her B.A. from Penn State University in 1976.
In addition to the Western Pennsylvania candidates, the White House also nominated Judge John Milton Younge, of Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court, to a vacancy on the federal bench for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.