The Honorable Dianne Feinstein

United States Senator
California
September 9, 2008

Senator Dianne Feinstein

Statement for the Record
Judicial Nominations Hearing, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008
Judge Michael Anello

I would like to thank Chairman Leahy for his leadership on this Committee and for his commitment to moving well qualified judicial nominees through the confirmation process.

Today the Committee is hearing testimony from California Superior Court Judge Michael M. Anello, who has been nominated to a judgeship on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

As many of you know, in California we have established a bipartisan Judicial Advisory Committee that is responsible for recommending nominees to fill vacancies in California's federal district courts. Judge Anello was a unanimous recommendation of that committee.

All of the Committee's members found Judge Anello extremely well-qualified to serve on the district court. By all accounts, he is the kind of nominee that we had hoped would come out of that bipartisan process.

Born in 1943, Judge Anello graduated from Bowdoin College and Georgetown Law School before entering active duty in the United States Marine Corps in 1968. While serving in Vietnam, he acted as a military prosecutor, defense counsel, and judge, until he was released in 1972 with multiple honors, a certificate of commendation, and the rank of captain.

As he told members of the California Judicial Advisory Committee, his experience applying military justice in a war zone instilled in him a lasting respect for the rules of evidence and procedure.

Following military service, Judge Anello moved to San Diego, where he worked first as a Deputy City Attorney and then for a prominent law firm known as Tood, Toothacre & Wingbert when he entered, and Wingert Grebing Anello & Brukaber when he left. During his time as a litigator, he developed experience in criminal and civil litigation, as well as appellate law.

In 1998, California Governor Pete Wilson appointed him to the State Superior Court, where he has served with distinction for a decade. His colleagues on that court have elected him to the court's Executive Committee four times; and in the Southern California legal community, he is well known and well respected for his intelligence and his judicial temperament.

I am pleased that Judge Anello is here today to testify before the Committee.