Fighting for Judges

June 21, 2011

7 min read

Robert J. Conrad, Jr., Nominee for U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Robert J. Conrad, Jr. has spent most of his career at the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina serving as chief judge (2006-present), judge (2005-2006), the United States Attorney (2001-2004), and an Assistant United States Attorney (1989-2001). From 2004-2005, Conrad was a partner at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw. Conrad was an Academic All-American in basketball at Clemson University. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1983 and is admitted to the North Carolina and Virginia bars. Conrad, a Catholic, serves on the Board of Visitors of Ave Maria Law School.

While Judge Conrad led the U.S. Attorneys Office, prosecution of corporate fraud and other white collar matters dramatically increased in both numbers and complexity of cases. Also, in the first trial of its kind, the office prosecuted a Hezbollah terrorist cell. . . obtain[ing] convictions for providing support to a terrorist organization, RICO, money laundering and conspiracy. After the reinstatement of capital punishment, Conrad was one of the first prosecutors in North Carolina to obtain the death penalty.

As the Department of Justices Campaign Financing Task Force Chief, Conrad examined President Clinton and Vice-President Gore under oath. Regarding his performance in that capacity, Janet Reno said he was one person who deserves a great deal of credit for the success of the investigation. I am impressed with his judgment. . . and his knowledge of the law. He is an excellent prosecutor. Conrad also served on General Ashcrofts Advisory Committee. Both North Carolina Senators have applauded his nomination to the Fourth Circuit.

In a published law review article, Conrad discussed the need to live life with intentionality, recognizing that God is sought, or forgotten, in the midst of living ordinary lives, and especially in the ordinary activities of daily work. Conrad was criticized by Senator Leahy in 2005 because in a Letter to the Editor, he called Sister Helen Prejeans book Dead Man Walking liberal drivel.

Catharina Haynes, Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

On July 17, 2007, President Bush nominated Catharina Haynes to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Haynes is a partner at Baker Botts LLP where she returned after serving eight years as a civil district court judge in Dallas, Texas.

At the age of nineteen, Haynes graduated first in her class from the Florida Institute of Technology. At twenty-two, she graduated second in her class from Emory University School of Law and then moved to Dallas where [s]he began her career as an associate with Thompson & Knight . . . . In 1988, Haynes became an associate at Baker Botts LLP where she eventually became a partner and stayed until 1998.

In 1998, Haynes, a Republican, was elected judge of the 191st Civil District Court in Dallas. She served for two four-year terms. A Democrat defeated her bid for a third term in 2006. The Dallas News recommended her during the elections, stating that [s]he is considered an efficient administrator who handles her caseload smoothly and knows the law. Following her defeat, she returned to Baker Botts LLP where she remains today.

Haynes has enjoyed a distinguished career, receiving appointments by the Supreme Court of Texas to the Court Reporters Certification Board and the State Bar of Texas Professional Ethics Committee. Haynes has also won several awards and professional honors; and she has multiple publications, speeches, and presentations to her name. Many of these relate to insurance issues, ethics and professionalism, and advice to attorneys about the practice of law.

Haynes is married to attorney Craig Haynes who is a partner at Thompson & Knight and has been an elder in a Presbyterian church. In her college years, Haynes was active in the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. She has also been actively involved in Youth Believing in Change, a Christian organization that seeks to use biblical principles to help develop youth into leaders.

John D. Tinder, Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

On July 17, 2007, President Bush nominated John Daniel Tinder to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. President Reagan nominated Tinder to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in 1987, and he has served there since.

Tinder received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University and his law degree from Indiana University School of Law. He was a law clerk for the U.S. Attorney in Indianapolis and then the Assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana through 1977. He then worked in private practice until 1984, working for the law firm of Harrison & Moberly LLP in Indianapolis. He was also the public defender for the Marion County Criminal Court from 1977 to 1978. From 1984 to 1987, [he] was United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. He was responsible for criminal prosecutions and civil enforcement. Tinder also taught trial advocacy as an adjunct professor at his alma mater from 1980 to 1988.

Judge Tinder is a Catholic. During an interview he had with an online blogger, he was asked: What role does your own religious faith play in your work as a federal judge? He responded:

No one who attended Catholic grade school for 8 years and a Jesuit high school in the 50s and 60s left unaffected. The experience shapes your perspective on matters of morality, religion, philosophy, discipline and many other subjects. But religious affiliation and religious beliefs should have no role in the performance of a judges duties. In my professional career, I have prosecuted death penalty cases, ruled that Wicca is a religion subject to anti-discrimination protection, and issued many other rulings that probably would have caused the nuns of my youth to rap my knuckles heavily. Decisions are to be made on the law and the facts, not slanted because of personal beliefs.

Shalom D. Stone, Nominee for U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Shalom D. Stone, 44, was an associate at the New Jersey firm of Walder, Hayden & Brogan, P.A., before becoming partner in 2000. While Stone does not have any prior government experience, according to the White House, he has litigated in state and federal trial and appellate courts in a wide variety of criminal and civil cases. Stone graduated from New York University School of Law in 1987, where he was a teaching assistant in legal writing and civil procedure. Stone graduated magna cum laude from Yeshiva College in 1984, and is an active member of his synagogue.

Mr. Stone specializes in business litigation, including contracts, real estate, securities and insurance, as well as criminal defense work and appeals. Stone is the former Chair of the Federal Practice and Procedure Section of the New Jersey Bar Association (2002-2004) and a former member of the Lawyers Advisory Committee of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (2003-2004).

Stone co-authored a 1998 American Bar Association publication entitled The Scope of Discovery in the Federal Courts. He has also published articles in New Jersey Lawyer and the Insurance Litigation Report. Mr. Stone has volunteered to represent indigent defendants. He is also a member of the Nature Conservancy, an organization dedicated to protecting the environment through land purchases.

Stone is nominated to fill the vacancy left after Samuel Alito joined the Supreme Court of the United States. President Bush did not consult with New Jersey Democratic Senators Frank Lautenberg or Robert Menendez before withdrawing a previous nomination and then nominating Stone. Senator Menendezs office said, the sudden manner in which the previous consensus nominee . . . was withdrawn and the uncooperative unilateral manner in which this nomination was made[,] certainly raises serious concerns. Dan Katz, Senator Lautenbergs chief of staff, said we are skeptical that this is a good-faith effort to pick a judge for New Jersey, because the president did not consult the Senators. Senator Lautenberg has criticized President Bush for break[ing] from our cooperative approach. . . and veer[ing] toward a partisan political exercise.