-9999
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Karoline Mehalchick to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Judge Mehalchick received her B.S. from Pennsylvania State University and her J.D. from Tulane Law School before clerking for Judge Trish Corbett on the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas in Scranton, PA. She then entered private practice in Clarks Summit, PA, where she maintained a general civil and commercial litigation practice, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in all stages of litigation. During her time as a litigator, she tried 10 cases to verdict, including 6 jury trials. She also argued seven appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and served as cocounsel in one case before the Supreme Court of the United States.
In 2013, Judge Mehalchick was appointed as a U.S. magistrate judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in Scranton. She has served as chief magistrate judge since 2021. During her decade on the bench, she has handled a wide variety of both civil and criminal matters, and she has presided over 16 trials that have gone to verdict. She has issued more than 1,200 opinions and reports and recommendations and more than 1,000 criminal orders related to pretrial detention and release. In addition to her judicial service, Judge Mehalchick also presides over the Scranton Court-Assisted Re- Entry Program--CARE Court--and serves on the Judicial Conference Committee on Codes of Conduct.
The American Bar Association unanimously rated Judge Mehalchick as ``qualified'' to serve on the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and she is strongly supported by both of her home State Senators and the Pennsylvania legal community. Her litigation background and her courtroom experience as both an advocate and as a magistrate judge ensure that she will be an asset to the district court.
I am proud to support her nomination, and I ask my colleagues to join me in my support.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source