Senate Begins Confirmation Hearing on Howard Judgeship
WASHINGTON, April 11–Salisbury’s Jeff Howard, a former New Hampshire attorney general and gubernatorial candidate, testified here on Thursday about his suitability for a federal appeals court judgeship.
President George Bush nominated Howard, 45, to the seat on the Boston-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit last August.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held confirmation hearings for Howard and six candidates for U.S. district court seats across the country. The committee will recommend to the full Senate whether Howard should be confirmed.
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) gave Howard his “most enthusiastic endorsement,” telling the committee, “I’ve known Jeff Howard for years. He brings to the judiciary the knowledge of the real-world business of law enforcement.” Gregg added that Howard “has been a country attorney as well as an attorney at a large firm in Manchester ยท He has an exceptional breadth of experience.”
After Gregg left to attend another meeting, Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) ran through Howard’s “impressive array of legal expertise.” He said that Howard has been involved in more 100 cases before the Boston court. Smith also pointed to Howard’s extensive work with victims of domestic violence, which Orrin Hatch (R-UT) called “impressive” when he questioned Howard.
Hatch, the senior Republican on the committee, and chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) asked Howard six main questions, including whether he believed that he could shift from a background in politics to a non-partisan judgeship.
Howard, when asked by Leahy why he thinks some members of a committee investigating whether he is suited for the judgeship concluded that he is not qualified, said: “I can only speculate that it may be because I am not a sitting judge.” Howard has never served as a judge.
Howard has been a state, federal and private lawyer. He was attorney general of New Hampshire from 1993 to1997 after serving as a U.S. Attorney, deputy state attorney general and assistant state attorney general.
After serving as attorney general, Howard worked at the law firm of Choate, Hall & Stewart in Manchester until last year. He ran unsuccessfully in 2000 for the Republican gubernatorial nomination and has been in private practice since then.
The Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit presides over appeals from New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico. Six judges serve on the court.
If confirmed for the judgeship, Howard would replace Manchester’s Norman Stahl, who is retiring after holding the seat since 1992.
During Howard’s failed run in the gubernatorial primary, two of his campaign consultants sent mailings and made phone calls attacking his primary challenger, Gordon Humphrey, and Humphrey’s wife, Patty. Attorney General Philip McLaughlin accused the consultants of breaking state campaign finance laws in doing so. This issue did not come up during Thursday’s questioning.
Howard’s wife, Marie, and his sons John and Joseph – who playfully hung on their mother in the committee hearing room- sat five rows behind Howard during the hour and a half proceedings, along with Howard’s brother, Mark Howard, an assistant U.S. attorney in New Hampshire. Rep. Charles Bass (R-NH) and former governor Stephen Merrill, whom Howard served under as deputy attorney general in 1988, also stopped by the Dirksen Senate Office Building to support Howard.
Smith takes credit for bringing Howard to the president’s attention and moving his confirmation along in the Senate.
“When the president called me last year and asked who I’d recommend for the seat, they weren’t even thinking of anyone from New Hampshire,” Smith said, moments after he and Gregg introduced Howard to the committee. “Now the president is very pleased with him.”
Jeff Howard’s brother, Mark Howard, said the proceedings “went great,” though he joked that he was “a bit biased.”
Published in The Union Leader, in Manchester, New Hampshire
