“Every judicial nominee deserves an up-or-down vote…”
President George W. Bush
State of the Union Address
February 2, 2005
Because courts must always deliver impartial justice, judges have a duty to faithfully interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. As President, I have a constitutional responsibility to nominate men and women who understand the role of courts in our democracy, and are well qualified to serve on the bench – and I have done so. The Constitution also gives the Senate a responsibility: Every judicial nominee deserves an up-or-down vote.
Circuit Court Nominees
Claude Allen, 4th Circuit
Mr. Allen graduated with a BA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1982 and received his J.D. from Duke Law School in 1990. He served as an aide to Senator Jesse Helms from 1983-87, including press secretary for Helms’ 1984 re-election campaign and Deputy Director and Press Secretary for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. From 1990-91 he served as a clerk for the D.C. Circuit under Judge David Sentelle. After his clerkship he became an associate with Baker & Botts, LLP from 1991-95. Under Attorney General James Gilmore he served as Deputy Virginia Attorney General from 1995-98. Once James Gilmore became the governor of Virginia, Mr. Allen held the position of Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources from 1998-2001 Since June 2001 Mr. Allen has worked as the Deputy Secretary for the Department of Heath and Human Services. (Resumé)
Carolyn Kuhl, 9th Circuit
Carolyn B. Kuhl is Judge of the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles. She was appointment by Governor Wilson in 1995. In 1999, she served for three months on assignment to the California Court of Appeal in Division 4 of the Second Appellate District. Before her appointment to the bench, Judge Kuhl was a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson. From 1981 through 1986, Judge Kuhl served in the United States Department of Justice as Deputy Solicitor General. Judge Kuhl began her tenure at the Justice Department as Special Assistant to Attorney General William French Smith. Judge Kuhl graduated from Princeton University in 1974 and from Duke University School of Law in 1977. At Duke Law School she was an Editor of the Duke Law Journal, graduated with distinction, and was awarded membership in the Order of the Coif. Following law school she clerked for the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy, who at that time was a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. (Biographical Information)
David McKeague, 6th Circuit
David W. McKeague was nominated to be a District Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan on September 11, 1991. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on February 7, 1992, and was sworn in on February 28, 1992. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge McKeague was a senior partner and officer of the firm of Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith, PC, of Lansing, Michigan. Judge McKeague received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan in 1968 and his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan in 1971. He was admitted to the Bar in 1971. (Biographical Information)
Susan Bieke Neilson, 6th Circuit
Susan Bieke Neilson was born on August 27, 1956 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, grew up in Portage, Michigan, and graduated from the University of Michigan and Wayne State University Law School. In 1980, she was hired as an associate at Dickinson Wright PLLC, where she was promoted to partner in 1986. In 1991, Neilson was appointed by Governor John Engler to serve as a judge on the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan, the largest trial court in the state. She was reelected to the court in 1992, 1996, and 2002.(Biographical Information)
Henry W. Saad, 6th Circuit
After graduating from Wayne State University Law School magna cum laude, in 1974, Judge Saad spent 20 years practicing law with one of Michigan’s leading firms, Dickinson, Wright, Moon, Van Dusen & Freeman, where he built a national practice and reputation in the areas of employment law, school law and media law. During that time, Judge Saad was an adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School and University of Detroit/Mercy School of Law and was active in community activities. These activities included President of the Wayne State University Law School Alumni Association, Chairman of the Board of the Oakland Community College Foundation and as a Board Member on the National Conference of Christians and Jews. In 1994, Governor Engler appointed Judge Saad to the Michigan Court of Appeals. Judge Saad was elected to retain his seat in 1996. He received broad bi-partisan support, including endorsements from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the UAW. Since 1996, Judge Saad has taught legal ethics at Wayne State University Law School and evidence at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. (Biographical Information)
Bill Pryor, 11th Circuit
Bill Pryor took office as Attorney General of Alabama on January 2, 1997. He was appointed by Governor Fob James to complete the term of Jeff Sessions who was elected to the United States Senate. On November 3, 1998, Pryor was elected to a full four-year term and reelected on November 5, 2002. Pryor graduated magna cum laude in 1987 from Tulane University School of Law, where he was editor in chief of the Tulane Law Review. He began his legal career as a law clerk for the late Judge John Minor Wisdom of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. Afterwards, Pryor engaged in the private practice of law in Birmingham in two of the state’s finest law firms, specializing in commercial and employment litigation from 1988 until 1995. Pryor also taught as an adjunct professor at the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University from 1989 to 1995. During the tenure of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Pryor served as Deputy Attorney General in charge of special civil and constitutional litigation. Pryor has served as a member of the State and Local Senior Advisory Committee for the White House Office of Homeland Security and as a member of the Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Justice on the Bush-Cheney Transition Team. (Biographical Information)
Richard Griffin, 6th Circuit
Richard Allen Griffin is a Judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals currently serving his fourteenth year on the Court. Judge Griffin, 50, received his bachelor of arts, magna cum laude, from Western Michigan University Honors College in 1973 and received his juris doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1977. Griffin worked as a law clerk for Washtenaw Circuit Judge Ross W. Campbell from 1975 to 1977. Judge Griffin was a founding partner of the Traverse City law firm Read & Griffin. In November, 1988, Judge Griffin was elected to the Michigan Court of Appeals (Third District). He was reelected in November, 1996 (Fourth District). In 1994, Judge Griffin was nominated for the Michigan Supreme (Biographical Information)
Charles W. Pickering Sr., 5th Circuit
U. S. District Judge Charles W. Pickering, Sr., has had over ten years experience on the federal trial bench. He was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on October 2, 1990, by President Bush’s father. Prior to appointment to the bench, Judge Pickering practiced law for almost thirty years. Judge Pickering was appointed and served as City Prosecuting Attorney of Laurel and was elected and served four years as County Prosecuting Attorney of Jones County. He served briefly as Laurel City Judge, 1969, and was elected to two terms in the Mississippi State Senate, 1972 to 1980. He was the Republican nominee for Attorney General in 1979, and served as Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party from 1976 to 1978. Judge Pickering graduated at the top of his law school class at the University of Mississippi where he was on the Law Journal and served as Chairman of the Moot Court Board. (Biographical Information)
William Myers
William G. Myers III serves as the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior, following his nomination by President George W. Bush and confirmation by the United States Senate in July 2001. Mr. Myers earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977 from the College of William and Mary and a Juris Doctor degree in 1981 from the University of Denver College of Law . After graduation, Mr. Myers practiced law in Sheridan, Wyoming. In 1985, United States Senator Alan Simpson (Wyo-ret.) hired Mr. Myers to advise the Senator on Senate Judiciary Committee business, as well as public land issues. In 1989, Mr. Myers joined the executive branch as an Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States. When the Attorney General retired from his position, Mr. Myers joined the U.S. Department of Energy as Deputy General Counsel for Programs. As Deputy General Counsel, he supervised department attorneys in the areas of civilian nuclear energy, procurement, international energy, and power marketing. Mr. Myers returned to the private sector in 1993 and subsequently represented a livestock trade association where he specialized in federal land issues. In 1997, Mr. Myers and his family moved to Boise, Idaho, where he joined the law firm of Holland & Hart to continue his practice in natural resources and public land law. At the firm, Mr. Myers handled a mix of litigation, transactional work, and legislative advocacy. (Biographical Information)
Claude Allen, 4th Circuit
Mr. Allen graduated with a BA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1982 and received his J.D. from Duke Law School in 1990. He served as an aide to Senator Jesse Helms from 1983-87, including press secretary for Helms’ 1984 re-election campaign and Deputy Director and Press Secretary for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. From 1990-91 he served as a clerk for the D.C. Circuit under Judge David Sentelle. After his clerkship he became an associate with Baker & Botts, LLP from 1991-95. Under Attorney General James Gilmore he served as Deputy Virginia Attorney General from 1995-98. Once James Gilmore became the governor of Virginia, Mr. Allen held the position of Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources from 1998-2001 Since June 2001 Mr. Allen has worked as the Deputy Secretary for the Department of Heath and Human Services. (Biographical Information)
Terrence Boyle, 4th Circuit
Born on December 22, 1945 in Passaic, New Jersey, Terrence Boyle is the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Brown University and a juris doctor degree from American University. Chief Judge Boyle began his career working in Congress, where he was Minority Counsel for the House Subcommittee on Housing, Banking & Currency from 1970 through 1973. He later served as the Legislative Assistant for Senator Jesse Helms before going into private practice in 1974 in the North Carolina firm of LeRoy, Wells, Shaw, Hornthal & Riley. He was named a partner at the firm in 1977 and remained there until his appointment to the federal bench in 1984. Since joining the federal bench Chief Judge Boyle has been appointed twice by Chief Justice Rehnquist to serve on Judicial Conference committees. From 1987 to 1992 he served on the Judicial Resources Committee, and from1999 to the present he has served as a member of the Judicial Branch Committee. Chief Judge Boyle has sat by designation on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit numerous times, and has issued over 20 opinions for that court. (Biographical Information)
Susan Bieke Neilson, 6th Circuit
Susan Bieke Neilson was born on August 27, 1956 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, grew up in Portage, Michigan, and graduated from the University of Michigan and Wayne State University Law School. In 1980, she was hired as an associate at Dickinson Wright PLLC, where she was promoted to partner in 1986. In 1991, Neilson was appointed by Governor John Engler to serve as a judge on the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan, the largest trial court in the state. She was reelected to the court in 1992, 1996, and 2002. (Biographical Information)
Brett Kavanaugh
Mr. Kavanaugh graduated Yale College with a BA, cum laude in 1987 and Yale Law School in 1990. Following law school he served as a clerk for the Honorable Walter K. Stapleton, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1990-91 and The Honorable Alex Kozinski, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1991-92. His next position was that of an attorney in the US Department of Justice’s Office of the Solicitor General from 1992-93. The following year Mr. Kavanaugh served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy, Supreme Court of the United States. From 1994-97 he worked in the Office of Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr, becoming an. He became an Associate Counsel at the Law Firm of Kirland & Ellis in 1998, and partner in 1999. Since 2001 he has served with President George W. Bush. First, he was associate Counsel to the President. Then, in 2003 he became Senior Associate Counsel to the President. From 2003 till present he has worked as a staff secretary. (Resumé)
William Haynes
Jim Haynes has served as the General Counsel of the Department of Defense since May 24, 2001. Appointed by President Bush with the advice and consent of the Senate, Mr. Haynes is the chief legal officer of the Department of Defense and the legal adviser to the Secretary of Defense. Prior to serving as the General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Mr. Haynes twice was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Jenner & Block (1993-1996 and 1999-2001), where he provided legal services to corporate and individual clients. From 1996 through 1998, he served as staff vice president and associate general counsel of General Dynamics Corporation, and as general counsel of General Dynamics Corporation’s Marine Group. After Mr. Haynes’ Senate confirmation in early 1990, the President appointed him General Counsel of the Department of the Army, a post he held for three years. Mr. Haynes earned his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, and his Bachelor of Arts degree from Davidson College, where he was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Kappa. After law school, Mr. Haynes clerked for U.S. District Judge James B. McMillan in Charlotte, North Carolina. He also served four years on active duty as a Captain in the U.S. Army. (Biographical Information)
Thomas B. Griffith
Mr. Griffith is Assistant to the President and General Counsel of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Brigham Young University and with High Honors with Distinction from its Honors Program. He earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the editorial and articles review boards of the Virginia Law Review. Following graduation from law school, Mr. Griffith became an associate with the law firm of Robinson, Bradshaw, and Hinson in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1989, he joined the Washington, D. C. law firm of Wiley, Rein, and Fielding as an associate. He was elected to the partnership of that firm in 1993. In 1995, the United States Senate, by a unanimous resolution sponsored by the Republican and Democratic Leaders, appointed Mr. Griffith to the non-partisan position of Senate Legal Counsel of the United States, an office he held until 1999. Following his service as Senate Legal Counsel, Mr. Griffith returned to Wiley, Rein, and Fielding in 1999 where he was a partner in that firm’s litigation and government affairs practices. (Biographical Information)
