Schumer to recommend Green for judgeship

U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer announced Tuesday that he is recommending Monroe County District Attorney Michael C. Green to President Barack Obama to serve as a judge in the Western District of New York.

Green would replace U.S. District Court Judge David G. Larimer, who took senior status last year. As per federal court directives, the nominee will sit and hear cases in Rochester.

In making the announcement, Schumer called Green a lifelong public servant who has spent the last two decades working to protect the residents of Monroe County from murderers, drunken drivers, thieves and other criminals of every stripe.

He has worked with the Boys and Girls Club and other community agencies to promote literacy and non-violent community engagement, and has served on boards for Families and Friends of Murdered Children and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Schumer said.

“Mike Green has been an outstanding, moderate and supremely professional figure in law enforcement for more than two decades; he has a top-notch legal mind and will make a superb addition to the bench,”

Schumer said. “He has spent his life protecting our children, our families and our property and has been an absolute pillar of the community — I am proud to recommend him to the president to serve as a federal judge from Rochester on the Western District bench.”

Green told The Daily Record on Tuesday that he was very humbled by the possibility of his appointment to the federal bench.

“My sense is that the senator had a list of very qualified people to choose from, and the fact that he chose me is very humbling,” Green said. “I’m very excited about the prospect.”

Green said he hadn’t always aspired to a judicial role.

“I very much enjoy my job as district attorney, and I would say that for most of my career my focus was on the DA’s office.”

His training as a prosecutor will serve him well as a judge, he said.

“I have a tremendous amount of trial experience,” he said. “Most certainly, being a judge is different, but I know how a trial should run and I know how a case should be handled. As a DA, we’re not solely an advocate for a client. Our job is to do justice. That’s something that will help in making the transition to the bench.”

Green said he’s also humbled by the possible company he’ll keep if his pending nomination ultimately is approved.

“There are some fantastic federal judges who have sat on the bench and who are currently on the bench here in Rochester. The thought of my joining them is both humbling and exciting,” he said.

It is uncertain how long it might be until the Western District vacancy will be filled. A number of federal judgeship appointees have sat unconfirmed by Congress, often caught up as pawns in partisan bickering or simply put on the backburner until more pressing matters are resolved.

Green is in no hurry: “Just from my conversations with the senator’s office, certainly I understand it’s a process that can take some time.

Green has served as Monroe County District Attorney since Jan. 1, 2004, and prior to that was an assistant district attorney for 17 years. For three of those years, he was responsible for all homicide prosecutions in Monroe County, and also has been capital crimes prosecutor, deputy chief of the Major Felony Bureau, chief of the DWI Bureau and a trial attorney in the Major Felony Bureau.

Green has focused on improving law enforcement across the country and has served as a faculty member for the National College of District Attorneys at the National Advocacy Center. He also has lectured for the New York Prosecutors Training Institute, the Monroe County Bar Association, the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, the Monroe County Criminal Justice Training Center, the New York State Law Enforcement Training Directors, the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators and many others.

The Western District of New York encompasses Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates counties.