L.A. Attorney Wins Spot on District Court

The U.S. Senate confirmed Friday, by a 93-6 vote, the nomination of Los Angeles attorney Christina A. Snyder to be a U.S. District Court judge.

Snyder, a graduate of Pomona College and Stanford Law School, was nominated by President Clinton in May 1996. An active Democrat, she was one of several judicial candidates whose bids have been stalled because of objections by conservatives. Snyder waited 14 months for a hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

During her hearing, she was questioned about her membership on the boards of the Western Center on Law and Poverty and of Public Counsel, the public interest law program of the Los Angeles and Beverly Hills bar associations.

At the time, committee member Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.) decried the questions, saying the grilling “can’t be an encouragement for lawyers to get involved in pro bono activities on behalf of people who don’t have the ability to go to court very easily.”

Snyder’s confirmation was applauded by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), her original sponsor, who said she would make an outstanding jurist, and by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

Leahy once again criticized the Republican leadership for failing to call a vote on Los Angeles lawyer Margaret M. Morrow, who has been nominated for a judgeship on the same court as Snyder--in what is formally known as the Central District of California. Leahy lamented that Morrow’s nomination has “languished on the Senate calendar since June 12” despite broad bipartisan support. Morrow has cleared the Judiciary Committee twice.

Later Friday, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Morrow’s primary sponsor, announced that Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) had agreed to hold a vote by mid-February on Morrow’s nomination after the Senate has reconvened.

“I am elated that such an extremely qualified nominee will finally get her day on the Senate floor,” Boxer said of Morrow, who was the first female president of the California Bar Assn.