At today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) questioned Kevin Gafford Ritz, nominee to be United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit, about his record.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 exactly as you portrayed it, they never notified you.
00:03 Senator Booker.
00:04 - Thank you, Mr. Ritz for being here.
00:08 I really appreciate you putting yourself forward.
00:11 You've lived your entire life, I've looked at your CV,
00:16 and I just found it interesting
00:18 that you never worked in a private law firm.
00:20 Is that true?
00:20 - That's correct, Senator.
00:22 Other than, I should say, being a summer associate.
00:26 - So, I'm kind of wondering why you've dedicated
00:31 your entire life to public service
00:34 when you could have broken away at any point of time
00:38 and made enough money to perhaps pay off loans
00:41 or made enough money to perhaps,
00:44 I mean, we see lots of judges come here before us,
00:46 and you're a rarity.
00:49 You've dedicated your entire life to public service.
00:51 Can you explain that to me?
00:52 - My entire life, Senator, thank you for the question,
00:55 to public service and service of our country.
00:57 And it was instilled in me as a child,
01:01 whether it was being an Eagle Scout or otherwise,
01:05 to have pride in our country
01:06 and how important it was to give back to your community.
01:10 - Yeah, but I'm sorry, but your career,
01:14 from the time you were like not even a teenager,
01:18 you've been this outstanding, like sort of example,
01:22 leader, recognized amongst your peers, Phi Beta Kappa.
01:27 I mean, I'm glad my mom isn't here
01:30 'cause she'd look at me and say,
01:31 you know, why didn't you have as good grades?
01:34 And yet you never got pulled into something
01:40 that would make your life
01:42 a little bit more financially comfortable.
01:44 - And Senator, it is true
01:46 that I had opportunities to do that.
01:49 Many of my colleagues in the US Attorney's Office
01:51 can say the same thing.
01:52 And it's been such a fulfilling career
01:55 to work side by side with them, with our team,
01:58 our law enforcement partners, of course,
02:00 in service of this greater goal
02:02 of upholding the rule of law and keeping people safe.
02:05 - Yeah, and that's interesting to me
02:06 'cause law enforcement,
02:08 there's a lot of aspersions cast
02:11 on law enforcement as a profession.
02:14 You and I have had a chance, I imagine,
02:15 to work with a lot of people in law enforcement
02:18 and seen sort of their heroic work.
02:21 Why take this career path through being a prosecutor,
02:25 being a part of, basically,
02:28 arm of the law of our country?
02:30 - You know, I'm not gonna say I fell into it,
02:35 but it certainly seemed like a great pathway
02:38 to kind of move back to your hometown and be in AUSA.
02:41 It's kind of the best of all worlds.
02:43 Obviously, you get really good experience
02:45 as a new prosecutor,
02:48 whether you're in state or federal court.
02:50 And that was certainly the case.
02:52 I was thrown into things.
02:53 But to work with law enforcement officers,
02:55 I can say there were Memphis police officers on my cases
02:58 who I'd gone to high school with
03:00 and just being a part of that community
03:02 and serving that community every day
03:04 to try to keep people safe.
03:06 And I've certainly broadened that portfolio
03:08 past Memphis to the other 21 counties of our district
03:11 and taken that responsibility very seriously
03:15 to make sure we're being intentional
03:17 about serving the citizens in all 22 of our counties.
03:20 - And you understand clearly through your career
03:23 what it means to be a patriot.
03:25 You demonstrate that with the choices
03:27 you've made with your life.
03:28 What it means to have integrity within law enforcement
03:31 and how scrupulously disciplined you have to be
03:34 in the conducting the law.
03:37 You seem to understand what it means
03:39 to be humble in your service.
03:44 And yet, law enforcement often gets attacks.
03:47 You knew you were coming before a Senate committee.
03:49 You knew you were gonna be roughed up.
03:50 But I wonder what it feels like
03:53 to live your life with these values,
03:55 to be the center part of your being
03:58 from the letters I've read and the like,
04:00 to be called a liar or to be accused of these things.
04:04 How does that make you feel?
04:05 - Senator, whatever I feel would pale in comparison
04:10 to my colleagues in federal, state and law enforcement
04:13 who are on the front lines and deal with, no offense,
04:17 much more serious risks to their well-being
04:21 and livelihoods than I am here today, of course.
04:24 - Right, and you probably had your,
04:26 in law enforcement you get questioned
04:28 from the people on the left and the right.
04:30 - Yes, we do.
04:31 - Yes, and I imagine when you wade into difficult issues
04:35 that do get the public eye, like the Tyree Nichols case,
04:40 I'm sure you were questioned during that period as well.
04:43 - Yes, Senator, and all I can say is with every decision
04:48 that I've made as United States Attorney,
04:49 it's because of what I felt was in the best interest
04:53 of the United States and the best way for us
04:56 to uphold the rule of law without fear or favor to anyone.
04:59 - So bullying or name-calling
05:03 or critiques from the left or the right,
05:07 the politics of the day about law enforcement,
05:10 you hear all that noise, but how does it affect your work?
05:15 - You know, I think you keep your head down
05:17 and work day to day to fulfill the mission of the department
05:20 and I'm proud of our team for doing that.
05:22 We obviously don't get involved in politics,
05:24 we uphold the rule of law in a neutral fashion.
05:27 - And lastly, there are a lot of things,
05:32 I've never obviously served in the judiciary,
05:35 a lot of things said that are important values for judges.
05:38 You've been before a lot of judges before.
05:41 Can you just maybe summarize finally
05:43 what do you think to you,
05:46 when you've looked towards the bench,
05:48 what is the most important values that a judge has?
05:52 - I think it's really important for judges
05:54 to be open-minded and in a meaningful way,
05:57 engage with the arguments being raised by the parties,
06:01 even if it's something that you may have seen
06:03 a hundred million times before.
06:04 A diligence about going through the record, of course,
06:07 as an appellate judge,
06:08 really getting your hands into the record
06:10 of what happened below.
06:12 And finally, a scrupulous fidelity to the law
06:16 and to the legal precedent.
06:18 - Well, I just wanna thank you.
06:20 I won't necessarily get this opportunity again
06:23 to look you in the eye and tell you how humbling it is to me
06:26 how you've chosen to live your life with your gifts,
06:29 with your qualifications, with your excellence.
06:32 The fact that you have shown a fidelity to the law
06:35 and shown a love of community,
06:37 a love of your state and a love of this country.
06:39 It's not exhibited in your words.
06:41 It's exhibited in how you've lived.
06:43 And I'm grateful that you're an American
06:45 and grateful that you wanna do this job.
06:46 Thank you. - Thank you.
06:47 - Mr. Ritz, this ain't beanbag.
06:52 It's at the highest level for a moment.