The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday conducted the nomination hearing for Federal Circuit nominee Richard Taranto. The hearing was a little bit more like the hearings we are used to seeing for Supreme Court Justice nominees in the sense that many of the questions focused on judicial philosophy.
It appeared that the hearing was only attended by three senators — Senator Franken (Minnesota), Senator Grassley (Iowa), and Senator Lee (Utah). Questions were asked by all three senators. Senator Franken asked Mr. Taranto about his clerking for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Senator Grassley asked Mr. Taranto about the Defense of Marriage Act. Senator Lee questioned Mr. Taranto about judicial philosophy. No material, if any, questions were asked about patent law.
The webcast is still available at this link: [Link]. The hearing begins at the 31:30 mark. I would commend for your viewing the section at 52:15-59:30 as the most interesting portion.
One interesting note is that Mr. Taranto comments that both his grandmothers are over 100 years old and still living. So, if Mr. Taranto follows in their footsteps, he could end up making an impact on the Federal Circuit for a very long time, just as Judges Rich, Friedman, and others have done.