Legal Progress Toolkit: Sample Press Release on Vacancy Announcement

January 29, 2013

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Senators Seek Qualified Candidates to Fill Three Federal Judicial Vacancies in Texas 

Texans for a Fair Judiciary urges selection of fair and impartial judicial candidates

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2012

CONTACT: Matt Quinn, 555-555-6219, media@TXfairjudiciary.org

AUSTIN – U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) are accepting applications for three judicial vacancies in federal district courts in the Eastern District of Texas in Texarkana, the Southern District of Texas in Corpus Christi and the Western District of Texas in San Antonio. Texans for a Fair Judiciary encourages our senators to suggest to the president judicial candidates who are fair and impartial and to move the nominees through the process quickly.

“Our federal courts hear cases on issues important to each and every Texan – from appeals on social security to employment rights to determining individuals’ constitutional rights,” said Matt Quinn, executive director of Texans for a Fair Judiciary. “We need to fill these judicial vacancies with qualified, fair-minded judges as quickly as possible and to do this, we must ensure we have a broad and diverse pool of applicants for consideration. The longer we go without filling these vacancies, the longer justice will be denied for the people of Texas.”

While it seems the president drives the judicial nomination process, in fact, home state senators really control much of the process. If a vacancy, on either an appellate or district court falls within a senator’s state, that senator can make recommendations to the president for nominees, and in recent years, that recommendation has carried a great deal of weight.

Sens. Hutchison and Cornyn have established a bipartisan panel of leading attorneys in Texas to help identify the most qualified candidates to fill these vacancies. This panel, known as the Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee, will review applications, interview candidates and make recommendations to the senators. Qualified attorneys who seek appointment should submit their resumes and completed questionnaires to both lawmakers’ offices. Completed application packets must be received at the following email addresses no later than Nov. 1, 2012. Email is strongly recommended because of delays due to the enhanced security procedures involving Congressional mail.

U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
FJEC@hutchison.senate.gov
Attn: John Seale

U.S. Senator John Cornyn
FJEC@cornyn.senate.gov
Attn: Matthew Johnson