{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/chairman-grassley-statement-judicial-nominations-hearing", "Chairman Grassley Statement at a Judicial Nominations Hearing", "2017-12-13", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "IA", "Charles Grassley", "G000386", "www.grassley.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee Judicial Nominations Hearing December 13, 2017 \u00a0 Welcome everyone, especially the nominees and their families, to today\u2019s nominations hearing. \u00a0 Today, we\u2019ll hear from two panels. On the first panel we\u2019ll hear from Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Elizabeth Branch, nominated to serve as a Circuit Court Judge on the 11th Circuit. \u00a0 On the second panel, we\u2019ll hear from 5 nominees to District Courts including Magistrate Judge Charles Goodwin, who has been nominated to the Western District of Oklahoma. I mention him specifically because a majority of the American Bar Association\u2019s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has rated Judge Goodwin \u201cnot qualified.\u201d The ABA sent us a letter\u2014characteristically lacking in any detail\u2014that suggests they have questions about Judge Goodwin\u2019s work ethic and accessibility. \u00a0 I reached out to Chief Judge Joe Heaton, who is chief judge of the Western District of Oklahoma and oversees Judge Goodwin, to see if there is any merit to the ABA\u2019s claims.\u00a0 Chief Judge Heaton expressed that his \u201csurprise was considerable\u201d when he learned about the ABA\u2019s rating.\u00a0 He wrote: \u00a0 \u201cI have reviewed various indicators of Judge Goodwin's productivity, such as the number of reports and recommendations generated by him and the complexity of the matters assigned to him. I believe his productivity to be fully comparable with that of the other magistrate judges of this court. As a result, I do not think there is a basis for concern with his professional competence. In sum, I disagree with the Standing Committee's conclusion. Based on his service here and his experience as a partner and practicing lawyer with one of Oklahoma's largest law firms, I believe Judge Goodwin is plainly qualified to be a U. S. District Judge.\u201d \u00a0 I would like to enter this letter into the record. I, for one, credit the views of the chief judge of the district court who oversees Judge Goodwin over the ABA\u2019s unsourced and unsupported accusations. I look forward to hearing Judge Goodwin\u2019s testimony today.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 -30-", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/chairman-grassley-statement-judicial-nominations-hearing"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9324520360678434, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}