Susan Bieke Neilson
Encyclopedia
Susan Bieke Neilson was a federal judge
on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
, and before that, a state trial judge in Michigan
.
degree in political science from the University of Michigan
Honors College. Neilson received her law degree in 1980 from Wayne State University Law School
. Following graduation she practiced products liability, commercial litigation, medical malpractice
, and general negligence
law with the firm of Dickinson Wright
in Detroit, making partner in 1986.
In 1991, Governor John Engler
appointed Neilson to the 3rd Judicial Circuit of Michigan, part of the Wayne County Circuit Court, to which she was re-elected in 1992, 1996, and 2002. Neilson's chambers were in Detroit. While on the bench, Neilson co-wrote and co-edited Michigan Civil Procedure, a two-volume treatise on Michigan civil practice.
Neilson was married with two daughters (Elizabeth, Born in 1984 and Mary, Born in 1990). She was an active Roman Catholic and was a member of the Detroit Catholic Lawyers Society.
by President George W. Bush
on November 8, 2001, to replace Judge Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy
, who had taken senior status
in 1999. On the same day, Bush also nominated Henry Saad
and David W. McKeague to Michigan seats on the Sixth Circuit. On June 26, 2002, Bush nominated Richard Allen Griffin
to a fourth Michigan seat on the Sixth Circuit. During the Democrat-controlled 107th Congress, all four nominations were stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee by then chairman, Senator Patrick Leahy
, D-VT.
In the 2002 midterm congressional elections, the Republicans regained control of the Senate. During the new 108th Congress, Senator Orrin Hatch
, R-UT, the new Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee began to process the previously blocked four nominees. In March 2003, Michigan's two Democratic senators, Carl Levin
and Debbie Stabenow
announced that they would blue-slip all Bush judicial nominees from Michigan because Bush refused to renominate Helene White
and Kathleen McCree Lewis
, two Michigan nominees to the Sixth Circuit whose nominations the Senate Republicans had refused to process during President Bill Clinton
's second term. Helene White at the time was married to Levin's cousin.
Contrary to Levin's and Stabenow's wishes, Hatch gave Saad, McKeague and Griffin committee hearings, and passed the three nominees out of committee. Furious, Levin and Stabenow convinced their caucus to filibuster the three in order to prevent them from having confirmation votes.
The Senate Republicans increased their numbers in the 109th Congress. Tensions between the Republicans and Democrats rose dramatically as the Republicans sought to break the filibusters of ten Bush court of appeals nominees (including Saad, McKeague and Griffin) by using the nuclear option
. In order to defuse the explosive situation concerning the use of the nuclear option and Democrats' obstruction of President Bush's judicial nominations
, fourteen moderate Republican and Democratic senators called the Gang of 14
joined together to forge an agreement to guarantee certain filibustered nominations up or down votes. Henry Saad and William Myers, however, were expressly excluded from the guarantee.
After the Gang of 14
agreement in the Senate in 2005, Neilson finally received a floor vote in the Senate on October 27, 2005. (Fellow Michigan Sixth Circuit nominees Richard Allen Griffin
and David McKeague
received confirmation votes in June.) She was confirmed unanimously, 97-0, with both Michigan senators ultimately voting in her favor. Her confirmation came almost exactly four years after her initial nomination. Neilson was the seventh judge nominated to the Sixth Circuit by Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate
.
, a rare blood disorder that eventually required her to undergo a bone marrow transplant in 2003. Though greatly diminished physically, Neilson returned to work and, following confirmation, moved her chambers to the federal courthouse in Detroit. On January 25, 2006, Neilson succumbed to the lingering effects of her illness, and died of lung failure in Detroit at the age of 49. Due to her illness and death, Neilson served for only two months on the Sixth Circuit and never wrote any opinions. According to an order of the court published in January 2006, Neilson participated in a decision to rehear a case en banc. The order does not indicate whether Neilson voted for or against rehearing.
At the same time, former Clinton nominee Lewis discovered she had lung cancer in 2005, and she died of an inoperable tumor on her lung in 2007.
Neilson was survived by her husband and two daughters.
for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
, as Neilson's replacement. When Levin and Stabenow again balked in the 110th Congress at confirming any more Bush judicial nominees for Michigan, his nomination was withdrawn and replaced with that of failed Clinton nominee Helene White
, now divorced from Levin's cousin. White was confirmed to Neilson's old seat in 2008.
United States federal judge
In the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution....
on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Kentucky* Western District of Kentucky...
, and before that, a state trial judge in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
Background
Neilson was born August 27, 1956 in Ann Arbor and was a lifelong Michigan resident. In 1977, she received an A.B.Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in political science from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
Honors College. Neilson received her law degree in 1980 from Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School is located in the City of Detroit’s Cultural Center, and is one of the schools of Wayne State University. It is one of two public law schools in the state of Michigan. The Law School has educated and trained lawyers since 1927, and its 10,000+ alumni serve as...
. Following graduation she practiced products liability, commercial litigation, medical malpractice
Medical malpractice
Medical malpractice is professional negligence by act or omission by a health care provider in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death to the patient, with most cases involving medical error. Standards and...
, and general negligence
Negligence
Negligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances. The area of tort law known as negligence involves harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm.According to Jay M...
law with the firm of Dickinson Wright
Dickinson Wright
Dickinson Wright PLLC , is a law firm based in Detroit, Michigan. It is one of the city's oldest firms, having been founded in 1878....
in Detroit, making partner in 1986.
In 1991, Governor John Engler
John Engler
John Mathias Engler is an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He served as the 46th Governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003....
appointed Neilson to the 3rd Judicial Circuit of Michigan, part of the Wayne County Circuit Court, to which she was re-elected in 1992, 1996, and 2002. Neilson's chambers were in Detroit. While on the bench, Neilson co-wrote and co-edited Michigan Civil Procedure, a two-volume treatise on Michigan civil practice.
Neilson was married with two daughters (Elizabeth, Born in 1984 and Mary, Born in 1990). She was an active Roman Catholic and was a member of the Detroit Catholic Lawyers Society.
Sixth Circuit nomination and confirmation
Neilson was nominated to a Michigan seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Kentucky* Western District of Kentucky...
by President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
on November 8, 2001, to replace Judge Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy
Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy
Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy is a Senior Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.-Biography:Kennedy grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She graduated at the top of her class from the University of Michigan Law School. After law school, she clerked for the chief judge of the U.S....
, who had taken senior status
Senior status
Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges, and judges in some state court systems. After federal judges have reached a certain combination of age and years of service on the federal courts, they are allowed to assume senior status...
in 1999. On the same day, Bush also nominated Henry Saad
Henry Saad
Henry William Saad is a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals and a former nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He was born in Detroit, Michigan.-Background:...
and David W. McKeague to Michigan seats on the Sixth Circuit. On June 26, 2002, Bush nominated Richard Allen Griffin
Richard Allen Griffin
Richard Allen Griffin is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Previously, he was a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals.- Background :...
to a fourth Michigan seat on the Sixth Circuit. During the Democrat-controlled 107th Congress, all four nominations were stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee by then chairman, Senator Patrick Leahy
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Joseph Leahy is the senior United States Senator from Vermont and member of the Democratic Party. He is the first and only elected Democratic United States Senator in Vermont's history. He is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy is the second most senior U.S. Senator,...
, D-VT.
In the 2002 midterm congressional elections, the Republicans regained control of the Senate. During the new 108th Congress, Senator Orrin Hatch
Orrin Hatch
Orrin Grant Hatch is the senior United States Senator for Utah and is a member of the Republican Party. Hatch served as the chairman or ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1993 to 2005...
, R-UT, the new Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee began to process the previously blocked four nominees. In March 2003, Michigan's two Democratic senators, Carl Levin
Carl Levin
Carl Milton Levin is a Jewish-American United States Senator from Michigan, serving since 1979. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
and Debbie Stabenow
Debbie Stabenow
Deborah Ann Greer "Debbie" Stabenow is the junior United States Senator from Michigan and a member of the Democratic Party. Before her election to the U.S. Senate, she was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Michigan's 8th congressional district from 1997 to 2001...
announced that they would blue-slip all Bush judicial nominees from Michigan because Bush refused to renominate Helene White
Helene White
Helene N. White is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Previously, she was a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals.- Background :...
and Kathleen McCree Lewis
Kathleen McCree Lewis
Kathleen McCree Lewis was an American lawyer and former federal judicial nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.- Early life and education :Lewis was born in Boston...
, two Michigan nominees to the Sixth Circuit whose nominations the Senate Republicans had refused to process during President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's second term. Helene White at the time was married to Levin's cousin.
Contrary to Levin's and Stabenow's wishes, Hatch gave Saad, McKeague and Griffin committee hearings, and passed the three nominees out of committee. Furious, Levin and Stabenow convinced their caucus to filibuster the three in order to prevent them from having confirmation votes.
The Senate Republicans increased their numbers in the 109th Congress. Tensions between the Republicans and Democrats rose dramatically as the Republicans sought to break the filibusters of ten Bush court of appeals nominees (including Saad, McKeague and Griffin) by using the nuclear option
Nuclear option
In U.S. politics, the "nuclear option" allows the United States Senate to reinterpret a procedural rule by invoking the argument that the Constitution requires that the will of the majority be effective on specific Senate duties and procedures...
. In order to defuse the explosive situation concerning the use of the nuclear option and Democrats' obstruction of President Bush's judicial nominations
George W. Bush judicial appointment controversies
During President George W. Bush's two term tenure in office, he nominated thirty-nine people for twenty-seven different federal appellate judgeships that were blocked by the Senate Democrats either directly in the Senate Judiciary Committee or on the full Senate floor using a filibuster....
, fourteen moderate Republican and Democratic senators called the Gang of 14
Gang of 14
The Gang of 14 was a term coined to describe the bipartisan group of Senators in the 109th United States Congress who successfully negotiated a compromise in the spring of 2005 to avoid the deployment of the so-called nuclear option over an organized use of the filibuster by Senate...
joined together to forge an agreement to guarantee certain filibustered nominations up or down votes. Henry Saad and William Myers, however, were expressly excluded from the guarantee.
After the Gang of 14
Gang of 14
The Gang of 14 was a term coined to describe the bipartisan group of Senators in the 109th United States Congress who successfully negotiated a compromise in the spring of 2005 to avoid the deployment of the so-called nuclear option over an organized use of the filibuster by Senate...
agreement in the Senate in 2005, Neilson finally received a floor vote in the Senate on October 27, 2005. (Fellow Michigan Sixth Circuit nominees Richard Allen Griffin
Richard Allen Griffin
Richard Allen Griffin is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Previously, he was a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals.- Background :...
and David McKeague
David McKeague
David William McKeague is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.- Background :...
received confirmation votes in June.) She was confirmed unanimously, 97-0, with both Michigan senators ultimately voting in her favor. Her confirmation came almost exactly four years after her initial nomination. Neilson was the seventh judge nominated to the Sixth Circuit by Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
.
Illness and death
After being nominated by Bush, Neilson learned that she had myelodysplastic syndromeMyelodysplastic syndrome
The myelodysplastic syndromes are a diverse collection of hematological medical conditions that involve ineffective production of the myeloid class of blood cells....
, a rare blood disorder that eventually required her to undergo a bone marrow transplant in 2003. Though greatly diminished physically, Neilson returned to work and, following confirmation, moved her chambers to the federal courthouse in Detroit. On January 25, 2006, Neilson succumbed to the lingering effects of her illness, and died of lung failure in Detroit at the age of 49. Due to her illness and death, Neilson served for only two months on the Sixth Circuit and never wrote any opinions. According to an order of the court published in January 2006, Neilson participated in a decision to rehear a case en banc. The order does not indicate whether Neilson voted for or against rehearing.
At the same time, former Clinton nominee Lewis discovered she had lung cancer in 2005, and she died of an inoperable tumor on her lung in 2007.
Neilson was survived by her husband and two daughters.
Epilogue
After her death, in June 2006, President Bush nominated Stephen J. Murphy III, the United States AttorneyUnited States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan is the Federal district court with jurisdiction over of the eastern portion of the state of Michigan. The Court is based in Detroit, with courthouses also located in Ann Arbor, Bay City, Flint, and Port Huron...
, as Neilson's replacement. When Levin and Stabenow again balked in the 110th Congress at confirming any more Bush judicial nominees for Michigan, his nomination was withdrawn and replaced with that of failed Clinton nominee Helene White
Helene White
Helene N. White is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Previously, she was a judge on the Michigan Court of Appeals.- Background :...
, now divorced from Levin's cousin. White was confirmed to Neilson's old seat in 2008.
See also
- Bill Clinton judicial appointment controversies
- George W. Bush judicial appointment controversiesGeorge W. Bush judicial appointment controversiesDuring President George W. Bush's two term tenure in office, he nominated thirty-nine people for twenty-seven different federal appellate judgeships that were blocked by the Senate Democrats either directly in the Senate Judiciary Committee or on the full Senate floor using a filibuster....
- filibuster
- nuclear optionNuclear optionIn U.S. politics, the "nuclear option" allows the United States Senate to reinterpret a procedural rule by invoking the argument that the Constitution requires that the will of the majority be effective on specific Senate duties and procedures...
- Gang of 14Gang of 14The Gang of 14 was a term coined to describe the bipartisan group of Senators in the 109th United States Congress who successfully negotiated a compromise in the spring of 2005 to avoid the deployment of the so-called nuclear option over an organized use of the filibuster by Senate...