Friday, January 20, 2012
6:56 AM
UW professor withdraws from federal appeals court appointment
UW law professor Victoria Nourse tells WisPolitics.com that she has withdrawn her name from consideration for an appointment to the 7th District Court of Appeals.
The president originally nominated Nourse to the post to replace Judge Terence Evans in July 2010. But the Senate failed to act on Nourse’s nomination that year and in 2011 as well, and it was sent back to the White House in December.
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, raised objections to Nourse’s nomination, complaining he was not consulted before the White House resubmitted the nomination last January after he won his seat. He also argued she was not well known in Wisconsin legal circles.
Nourse wrote in an email that she sent the president a letter yesterday asking to withdraw her name from Senate consideration.
She previously served as senior counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee when Vice President Joe Biden was chair, worked in the appellate division at the U.S. Justice Department and served as special counsel to the Senate Iran-Contra committee.
“The highest calling anyone could have is to serve their nation; I have served under two Presidents, one Democratic, the other Republican,” she wrote in the email. “I am honored to have been asked to serve my nation again.”
She said she had nothing else to say about her decision except to refer to a letter sent by legal experts from around the country who complained that her nomination was being held up.
“To quote Chief Justice Roberts, ‘the system is broken,’” she wrote.
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