John Cornyn: “I hope we are not saying that it is a prerequisite for confirmation to the job of an appellate judge that one actually…”

“I hope we are not saying that it is a prerequisite for confirmation to the job of an appellate judge that one actually has to have served as an appellate judge. Of course, rarely do any of us have experience in the jobs to which we are assigned or to which we are elected or to which we are hired until we have actually had a chance to perform that job. What we look at is not whether they have actually done that job before, but whether they have done a good job of everything they have taken on previously. By that standard, Judge Elrod not only has an impressive resume for a lawyer of her age, but she has demonstrated her competence, indeed, her excellence as a State district court judge.”