Posted on 08/26/2018 2:30:35 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump’s latest judicial nomination was refreshingly bipartisan for Trump's first ever out lesbian pick.
Trump nominated Illinois judge Mary M. Rowland, through a June announcement, for a seat as a district judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Why is this significant for Instinct Readers? Because Rowland is an out lesbian and the first openly LGBTQ judge to be nominated by Trump since entering the White
Rowland has had a long standing history in the world of law. She got her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.
After that, she worked as a staff attorney and later Chief Appellate Attorney for the Federal Defender Program for the Northern District of Illinois, according to the American Bar Association.
While working for the Federal Defender Program, Rowland represented 275 indigent defendants in federal criminal cases. She then moved on to join a private law firm, Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, before she was sworn in as a United States Magistrate Judge in 2012.
"Mostly, I'm just excited," she said at the time, according to the University of Chicago Law School. "I'm looking forward to the amount of variety the cases present. They present different areas of the law. Every day is different, every day is interesting."
According to the Washington Blade, the Senate Confirmation hearing for Rowland happened this past Wednesday (August 22), and went fairly smoothly.
Both Republican and Democratic senators seemed to respect Rowland and asked her easy questions. For instance, Louisiana senator John Kennedy (R) questioned Rowland’s views on which Supreme Court decision, besides Roe v. Wade and Brown v. Board of Education, had the biggest impact on American society.
Rowland answered that Marbury v. Madison, the 1803 decision that established judicial review, was the most the influential.
North Carolina senator Thom Tillis (R) also asked how Rowland sees the difference in her experience as a lawyer and as a judge.
Rowland replied by saying:
“At some point, I had to put a note on my bench saying you are no longer the lawyer because you can hear yourself talking out loud, ‘Well, you could argue it this way and what if you said it that way,’ and, of course, you’re not permitted to make arguments for lawyers anymore,” Rowland said. “It is also though a pleasure of being in a position of being unbiased and giving parties, both sides a fair shake, listening to what they have to say, and actually being in a position of helping them resolve the case.”
While Republican senators respected her and went fairly easy on her during the confirmation hearing, Democratic senators and LGBTQ advocates celebrated her during and after the hearing.
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth (D) introduced Rowland during the hearing and said that Rowland’s “reputation in the legal community is impeccable.” She also added that people who know Rowland “commend her good temperament, intelligence and fairness.”
Meanwhile, Annise Parker, CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Institute, commended the nomination of Mary Rowland.
“Mary Rowland is well-respected by the LGBTQ community in Illinois and we are pleased that someone with her experience and integrity was nominated,” Parker said.
“It is wonderful that she is openly and proudly out,” D’Arcy Kemnitz, executive director of the National LGBT Bar Association, told The Daily Beast on the matter. “Visibility of the LGBT community, especially in the courts, is vitally important. A good judge is fair and open-minded. We hope that her life experiences as a lesbian inform her understanding of equality under the law.”
She could be as conservative as John Birch but it would not negate the fact that she lacks judgement as evidenced by her having chosen a perverted lifestyle.
Romans chapter 1.
I would that all men and women come to Christ. I would that all men and women in Christ be the head and not the tale in: government, media, business, education and every other mountain that makes up society.
We’re talking about this person and placing homosexuals in any position of authority. If you think I absolve members of the clergy who also use their churches as a dating service to prey on the most vulnerable, you are sadly mistaken.
My brush with greatness as a child growing up in the greater Los Angeles area.
I won a Frisbee from Engineer Bill at the Grand Opening of a Shopping Bag Supermarket.
He had a Train Whistle Machine. If you were lucky enough to pull the right Lever and the Whistle blew, you won a prize. My Buddy won the Grand Prize, a Scooter.
I had hoped to meet Engineer Bill as well but I never got the chance.
It’s still the same thing.
An appointment that will anger heterosexuals and homosexuals.
She could the bestest, most originalist Justice ever but will be hated by the far left for being an originalist and hated by the far right for being a lesbian.
The “far right” needs to wake up to he fact that there are homosexuals in our society. No one says anyone has to love them or give them extra rights above anyone else, but they exist and don’t seem to be going anywhere. If you, as I do, consider homosexuality a sin ... well, there are all kinds of sins and sinners out there, why focus on just that one type? Jesus told me to visit those in prison. Well, most people in prison and jail are truly guilty of the crimes they were convicted of, so Jesus is telling me to be merciful to sinners, right? I’m a dark, evil sinner and so are you and everyone here. I’ll let the Lord worry about this woman’s sins and beg him to forgive mine.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.