When U.S. District Court Judge Geoffrey Crawford announced his intention to retire from the federal bench in Vermont last year, the VBA worked with the offices of Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch to convene a joint Judicial Nomination Advisory Panel to screen candidates and make recommendations to the senators, who made a final recommendation to the White House. The members of the Advisory Panel were: Paul Burns, Xusana Davis, Barbara Prine, Lisa Shelkrot, David F. Silver, Shap Smith and Eleanor (Ella) Spottswood. You can read more about that process here.
Today, President Biden announced his nomination of Mary Kay Lanthier, Esq. longtime Rutland County Public Defender and longtime chair of the VBA Criminal Law Section, to fill the vacancy on that will be created by the retirement of Judge Crawford. Below is the joint press release from Senators Sanders and Welch about Lanthier’s nomination:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) applauded President Biden’s announcement today of his nomination of Mary Kay Lanthier, of Orwell, Vermont, to be the next District Court judge in the District of Vermont. Sanders and Welch jointly recommended Lanthier to the White House after their nonpartisan Judicial Nomination Advisory Panel submitted her name for consideration by the senators.
“Mary Kay Lanthier has dedicated her career to public defense and ensuring that everyone has a fair chance in the courtroom, and I expect that she will bring that experience to the bench if she is confirmed to this role,” Sanders said in a statement. “Her peers in the Vermont legal community know that her skill, high ethical standards, and professionalism will carry over to her service as a federal judge. I am confident that she will be a fair and impartial federal judge and that everyone in her courtroom will be treated with the compassion, respect, and dignity they deserve.”
“Mary Kay Lanthier is an excellent nominee for this Rutland-based seat on the federal district court. She has spent her legal career here in Vermont where she has earned a clear and deserved respect – in the courtroom, in the legal community, and across the state,” said Welch, member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Ms. Lanthier has devoted her career to ensuring that the legal system works for everyone, no matter their background, and her formidable trial experience will serve her well on the bench. As a former public defender, I look forward to Ms. Lanthier’s public service continuing in this new capacity in the community she calls home.”
Sanders and Welch have strongly advocated for the Senate to confirm more qualified judges who understand the lived experiences of working Americans to fill the vacancies in the federal courts across the country; a quality Mary Kay Lanthier emulates through her stellar reputation in the legal community and her career in public defense. The senators from Vermont will guide Ms. Lanthier’s nomination through the Senate.
