Judge Michael Farrell, who retired last week after serving 19 years on the D.C. Court of Appeals, says he is seeking senior status from the D.C. Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure.
Farrell's replacement on the 9-judge court has yet to be named. The D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission has 60 days from July 1—the day Farrell stepped down—to submit three names to the White House. The president will select a nominee, who must then be confirmed by the Senate.
When President George H.W. Bush nominated Farrell to the appeals court in 1989, it took six months for the Senate to act on his nomination. This time around, election year politics could keep the slot open until a new administration is in place.
Farrell, who turns 70 this month, says “it’s time to move on and pass the position to someone else.” He joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia as deputy chief of the Appellate Division in 1977. Five years later, in 1982, he was named chief of the division. Farrell has served on the Joint Committee on Judicial Administration, the policy-making body for the D.C. Court of Appeals and D.C. Superior Court, since 1992.
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