Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced and led colleagues in the review of Des Moines native Judge Stephen Locher at the judge’s nomination hearing before the U.S. Senate. Locher is nominated to serve as U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa.
Photos of Locher’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee can be found HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Locher was nominated to the federal bench by the president last month after being recommended by Grassley and Sen. Joni Ernst. Their recommendation followed the unanimous endorsement by an Iowa-based judicial selection commission convened by the senators.
The senator’s prepared remarks follow.
Introduction of Judge Stephen Locher
Nominee for the Federal District Court, Southern District of Iowa
By Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
May 11, 2022
Today we have five judicial nominees before us, with two circuit court nominees and three district court nominees. One of the district court nominees has been nominated to fill Judge Jarvey’s seat in the Southern District of Iowa. I wanted to thank Chairman Durbin for scheduling Judge Locher’s hearing. I’m happy to introduce Judge Stephen Locher to the committee today.
After Judge Jarvey said that he would be retiring in March 2022, Senator Ernst and I set up our judicial selection commission. The commission was comprised of well-respected members of the Iowa legal community. They spent hundreds of hours reviewing and interviewing all of the applicants. The commission unanimously supported Judge Locher. I’m pleased that the White House accepted Senator Ernst’s and my recommendation.
You can see why Judge Locher received our support. He was born and raised in Iowa. Judge Locher has diverse legal experience and exceptional credentials. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame and Harvard Law School, he clerked for Judge John Gibson on the Eighth Circuit.
Now, he started out his career at a firm in Chicago. But we decided not to hold that against him too much. He came back to Iowa. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for several years, and he focused on prosecuting white-collar crime.
After five years as a prosecutor, he moved to the law firm Belin McCormick. He worked on both criminal and civil cases. His practice included everything from working on class actions involving data security to litigation over the Clean Water Act involving drainage districts.
In 2021, he was chosen to serve as a magistrate judge for the Southern District of Iowa. He’s served Iowa in that role for nearly a year.
With his impeccable credentials, experience in both civil and criminal law and his trial experience, Judge Locher is well-qualified to serve as a federal district court judge. It is my pleasure to support his nomination.
Judge Locher, welcome.
Original source can be found here
