July 30th, 2003 - Mr. President, I would like to express my continued support for the nomination of Brent McKnight for one of the newly created judgeships in the Western District of North Carolina.
Mr. McKnight brings a wealth of experience to this position, and his resume and experience are impeccable. More importantly, Mr. McKnight is highly respected by his peers, a testament to his character and integrity.
Since 1993, he has served as a federal Magistrate Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, and he was appointed to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules of the Judicial Conference by Chief Justice Rehnquist in October of 2001.
Brent McKnight has served as a state prosecutor and a District Court Judge for the 26th North Carolina Judicial District, and he maintains membership in the North Carolina Bar Association, the Federal Magistrate Judges Association, and many other organizations.
He has had a lifelong thirst for knowledge, having been a Rhodes Scholar and perhaps, even more impressive to those of us in North Carolina, a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a prestigious award named after the well-known philanthropist and scientist, John Motley Morehead III. Currently, Mr. McKnight shares his knowledge with aspiring students as an adjunct professor at both Wingate University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
It is so critical that the Senate move quickly on this and other nominations so that our courts can get much-needed relief. In the Western District, where Mr. McKnight is nominated, caseloads have increased significantly. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has indicated that the three U.S. District Court judges in the Western district have the fourth-heaviest caseload per judge among the 94 federal judicial districts across the country. For instance, the number of cases filed in the district grew from 1,321 in 1996 to 1,518 in the year 2001. The number of cases pending rose over the same time period from 1, 209 to 1,522.
This backlog in our courts must be alleviated. Approving the nomination of Brent McKnight would place a qualified and credible jurist on the bench and provide the overburdened Western District with much-needed relief.
Brent McKnight has my full support, and I would urge my colleagues to support his nomination.
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