Heidi Alexander: “later today the Senate will consider the nomination by the President of Judge Bernice Donald for the Sixth Circuit Court…”

“later today the Senate will consider the nomination by the President of Judge Bernice Donald for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Donald is from Memphis, TN. I know her well. I am here today to introduce her to my colleagues and to encourage them to support her confirmation. Judge Donald has been before the Senate before. She has been a Federal district judge since 1995. Our Judiciary Committee in the Senate has looked over her qualifications again and has recommended her to us without dissent. The American Bar Association has reviewed her credentials and said she is either qualified or well qualified. I think there is not much doubt about her fitness to serve on the court of appeals, so in my remarks I would like to talk more about Judge Donald's role in the community and her role as a pioneer in our country during her lifetime. She is the sixth of 10 children. Her parents were a domestic worker and a self-taught mechanic in DeSoto County, MS, which is just south of Memphis. As a young person, she was among the first African Americans to integrate in her high school during the period of desegregation. She obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Memphis and graduated from its law school. She focused her career at the beginning working among the most vulnerable citizens in Memphis in the Office of Legal Defender.…”