The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Washington County Presiding Judge Danielle J. Hunsaker to fill a vacant seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Senate, without discussion, voted 73-17 to confirm Hunsaker, who had the support of only one of Oregon’s two Democratic senators.
Sen. Jeff Merkley last week said he wouldn’t vote to confirm Hunsaker, saying she lacked experience for the lifetime post. Sen. Ron Wyden gave his support, saying he believes she has "displayed the judicial temperament'' needed for the position.
Hunsaker, 42, was one of four names that Wyden and Merkley had forwarded to the White House for consideration after the senators vigorously opposed the last nominee for the seat, federal prosecutor Ryan Bounds. Bounds’ name was suddenly withdrawn from consideration in July 2018 when it became clear the Senate didn’t have the votes to confirm him.
In August, President Donald J. Trump nominated Hunsaker to fill the court vacancy.
Gov. Kate Brown appointed Hunsaker to the bench in 2017. She previously was a partner at Larkins Vacura Kayser law firm in Portland, where she practiced civil and appellate litigation in state and federal court.
Hunsaker had clerked for 9th Circuit Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, whose seat she will fill. O’Scannlain assumed senior status in December 2016.
Report: Judge Danielle Hunsaker’s answers to questions from U.S. senators
After graduating from the University of Idaho College of Law, Hunsaker served as a law clerk to Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr., of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and for Oregon District Judge Michael W. Mosman. She later clerked for O’Scannlain.
She has previously served as president of the Washington County Bar Association, vice president of the Federal Bar Association’s Oregon chapter and was a board member of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society in Oregon, an organization of Mormon lawyers.
Carl Tobias, a professor with the University of Richmond’s School of Law who closely follows judicial nominations, said Hunsaker’s background "isn’t the normal path to the 9th Circuit,'' as she has no prior experience serving as a federal district judge. If Merkley didn’t feel she was qualified, he didn’t appear to try to convince his colleagues of that, Tobias added.
-- Maxine Bernstein
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