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NOMINATION AND APPOINTMENT OF JUSTICES AND JUDGES SEC. 433. (a) Except as provided in section 434(d)(1), the President shall nominate, from the list of persons recommended to him by the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission established under section 434, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint all justices and judges of the District of Columbia courts.

(b) No person may be nominated or appointed a justice or judge of a District of Columbia court unless he

(1) is a citizen of the United States;

(2) is an active member of the unified District of Columbia Bar and has been engaged in the active practice of law in the District for the five years immediately preceding his nomination or for such five years has been on the faculty of a law school in the District, or has been employed as a lawyer by the United States or the District of Columbia government;

(3) is a bona fide resident of the District of Columbia and has maintained an actual place of abode in the District for at least ninety days immediately prior to his nomination, and shall retain such residency as long as he serves as such justice or judge, except justices and judges appointed prior to the effective date of this part who retain residency as required by section 1501(a) of title II of the District of Columbia Code shall not be required to be residents of the District to be eligible for reappointment or to serve any term to which reappointed;

(4) is recommended to the President, for such nomination and appointment, by the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission; and

(5) has not served, within a period of two years prior to his nomination, as a member of the Tenure Commission or of the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission.

(c) Not less than six months prior to the expiration of his term of office, any justice or judge of the District of Columbia courts may file with the Tenure Commission a declaration of candidacy for reappointment. If a declaration is not so filed by any justice or judge, a vacancy shall result from the expiration of his term of office and shall be filled by appointment as provided in subsections (a) and (b). If a declaration is so filed, the Tenure Commission shall, not less than sixty days prior to the expiration of the declaring candidate's term of office, prepare and submit to the President a written evaluation of the declaring candidate's performance during his present term of office and his fitness for reappointment to another term. If the Tenure Commission determines the declaring candidate to be well qualified for reappointment to another term, then the term of such declaring candidate shall be automatically extended for another full term, subject to mandatory retirement, suspension, or removal. If the Tenure Commission determines the declaring candidate to be qualified for reappointment to another term, then the President may nominate such candidate, in which case the President shall submit to the Senate for advice and consent the renomination of the declaring candidate as justice or judge. If the President determines not to so nominate such declaring candidate, he shall nominate another candidate for such posi

tion only in accordance with the provisions of subsections (a) and (b). If the Tenure Commission determines the declaring candidate to be unqualified for reappointment to another term, then the President shall not submit to the Senate for advice and consent the renomination of the declaring candidate as justice or judge and such justice or judge shall not be eligible for reappointment or appointment as a justice or judge of a District of Columbia court.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA JUDICIAL NOMINATION COMMISSION

SEC. 434. (a) ***

(b)(1) ***

(3) It shall be the function of the Commission to submit nominees for appointment to positions as justices or judges of the District of Columbia courts in accordance with section 433 of this Act.

(d)(1) In the event of a vacancy in any position of the justice or judge of a District of Columbia court, the Commission shall, within sixty days following the occurrence of such vacancy, submit to the President, for possible nomination and appointment, a list of three persons for each vacancy. If more than one vacancy exists at one given time, the Commission must submit lists in which no person is named more than once and the President may select more than one nominee from one list. Whenever a vacancy will occur by reason of the expiration of such a justice's or judge's term of office, the Commission's list of nominees shall be submitted to the President not less than sixty days prior to the occurrence of such vacancy. In the event the President fails to nominate, for Senate confirmation, one of the persons on the list submitted to him under this section within sixty days after receiving such list, the Commission shall nominate, and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint one of those persons to fill the vacancy for which such list was originally submitted to the President.

(2) In the event any person recommended by the Commission to the President requests that his recommendation be withdrawn, dies, or in any other way becomes disqualified to serve as a justice or judge of the District of Columbia courts, the Commission shall promptly recommend to the President one person to replace the person originally recommended.

(3) In no instance shall the Commission recommend any person, who in the event of timely nomination following a recommendation by the Commission, does not meet, upon such nomination, the qualifications specified in section 433.

(4) Upon submission to the President, the name of any individual recommended under this subsection shall be made public by the Judicial Nomination Commission.

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SECTION 5102 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE § 5102. Definitions; application

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(4) teachers, school officials, and employees of the Board of Education of the District of Columbia whose pay is fixed under chapter 15 of title 31, District of Columbia Code; [the chief judges] the chief justice and the associate justices of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia and the chief judges and the associate judges of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals; and nonjudicial employees of the District of Columbia court system whose pay is fixed under title 11 of the District of Columbia Code;

TITLE 18, UNITED STATES CODE

PART II-CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

§ 3006A. Adequate representation of defendants (a) *

(k) APPLICABILITY IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.-The provisions of this section shall apply in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The provisions of this section shall not apply to [the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.] the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, or the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

PART V-IMMUNITY OF WITNESSES

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$6001. Definitions

As used in this part

(1) ***

(4) "court of the United States" means any of the following courts: the Supreme Court of the United States, a United States court of appeals, a United States district court established under chapter 5, title 28, United States Code, a United States bankruptcy court established under chapter 6, title 28, United States Code, the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, the District Court of Guam, the District Court of the Virgin Islands, the United States Claims Court, the Tax Court of the United States, the Court of International Trade, and the Court of Military Appeals.

TITLE 28, UNITED STATES CODE

PART IV JURISDICTION AND VENUE

CHAPTER 81-SUPREME COURT

1257. State courts; certiorari

(a)

(b) For the purposes of this section, the term "highest court of a State" includes the [District of Columbia Court of Appeals] Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.

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PART V-PROCEDURE

CHAPTER 133-REVIEW-MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

§ 2113. Definition

For purposes of this chapter, the terms "State court", "State courts", and "highest court of a State" include the [District of Columbia Court of Appeals] Supreme Court of the District of Colum

MINORITY VIEWS

INTRODUCTION

H.R. 1633, the District of Columbia Judicial Reorganization Act of 1993, would replace the current two tier judicial branch of the District of Columbia with a three tier judiciary consisting of the D.C. Superior Court, Intermediate Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court. Under the provisions of the bill, the current Court of Appeals judges would be elevated to Supreme Court justices (absent any re-nomination or re-confirmation by the President and the Senate), while the corresponding nine vacancies on the new intermediate appellate court would by filled by the President.

Above and beyond the substantive arguments against the creation of a three tier local judiciary, the District of Columbia cannot afford to expand it judiciary. As the late Council Chairman John Wilson noted before the Appropriations Committee, in order to fully fund its FY 1994 budget, the District will need, in addition to the monies authorized under the federal payment formula, an additional $63 million, including $25 million to pay for the costs of the current courts and the police and fire departments. Common sense dictates that a government which cannot afford to operate a judicial branch consisting of two courts should not seek to add a third court which will cost more than $35 million over the next six years. Despite disclaimers from proponents of H.R. 1633, there is only one source of funding for this wasteful and unnecessary mandatory addition to the D.C. judiciary: the federal taxpayer.

In Committee, proponents attempted to defuse the cost issue by arguing that H.R. 1633 does not impose a mandate on the District. Indeed, proponents went so far as to claim that H.R. 1633 does nothing more than authorize the District Columbia to establish a three tier judiciary at some future date, should it choose to do so. This legislation does not give discretion to the District to determine whether this court will ever be established. Under its plain language, H.R. 1633 mandates the creation of a three tier system without regard to the wishes of the District government or the costs that will be foist upon it.

Finally, proponents continue to hold fast to the notion that this legislation is necessary in order to reduce the backlog facing the Court of Appeals, hasten the overall appeal process in the District of Columbia, and afford the District's highest judges the ability to sit as a whole court more frequently. The statistical evidence paints a different picture. The number of cases filed has remained steady, dispositions are keeping pace with the appeals filed, and the percentage of cases disposed has surpassed 100% of filings four of the last six years.

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