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The nominee to fill an Indiana vacancy on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals faced some challenging questions on Capitol Hill on Wednesday as he took a first step toward possible confirmation by the full U.S. Senate.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana Magistrate Judge Joshua Kolar appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and took questions from several senators during a hearing.
President Joe Biden announced Kolar’s nomination in July to fill the vacancy on the 7th Circuit created by the death last summer of Judge Michael Kanne.
According to the White House, Kolar has been a magistrate in the Indiana Northern District since 2019. He also serves as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, where he has served since 2009. He served on active duty in Afghanistan from 2014 to 2015.
Prior to taking the bench, Kolar worked as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Indiana from 2007 to 2018, including serving as national security lead in that office from 2015 to 2018. He was tapped in 2018 to succeed now-retired Magistrate Judge Paul Cherry.
Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond School of Law professor, said he thought Kolar did an excellent job in responding to senators on the committee. He said Kolar showed his experience as a magistrate judge and displayed a solid judicial temperament.
“I think it was important (Sen. Todd) Young introduced him. It struck me as all positive,” Tobias said of Kolar’s appearance at the hearing.
In his introduction, Young noted Kolar’s service in the U.S. Navy Reserve and its slogan of, “Ready now. Any time. Anywhere.”
“In reviewing his judicial record and hearing from his colleagues, it is apparent that that slogan applies not only to Judge Kolar’s military service, but to his courtroom service, as well,” Young told the committee.
Young also mentioned several letters of support he’d received for Kolar.
“This high praise comes from individuals he has worked for and with in the United States Attorney’s Office as well as those who have appeared before him in his current capacity as magistrate judge,” Young said.
But Tobias also told Indiana Lawyer he thought some of the questions directed to Kolar were unfair.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, asked Kolar if he thought the Navy was systemically racist, to which Kolar replied no.
Kennedy also asked Kolar if he would allow his personal beliefs to affect his judgment on the bench, and if he thought minorities in America needed special help to succeed.
Kolar attempted to answer several times from a judicial perspective but was repeatedly interrupted by Kennedy.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, asked Kolar about a 2019 case in the Indiana Northern District that he presided over as a magistrate judge involving a defendant named Devon Gibson.
Gibson was charged with three counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Blackburn asked Kolar why he released Gibson pending trial when the government and probation officers had recommended he be detained.
Kolar said he was bound by the Bail Reform Act, which he noted was passed by the Senate, to tell him when he can release a defendant on conditions or when a defendant should be detained pending a trial.
Despite those tough questions, based on how Wednesday’s hearing went, Tobias said he thinks Kolar is in great shape and could expect a confirmation vote sooner rather than later. He said Young would lend his support for Kolar and work with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, to push for confirmation.
“I would think three to four weeks from now he’ll get a majority of the committee vote and it’s on to the (Senate) floor,” Tobias said.
Tobias also said he’s cautiously optimistic Kolar will get a confirmation vote from the Senate in October or November.
He said it would be good for the Senate to fill another judicial vacancy in the federal courts. There are currently 72 vacancies, with 32 nominees pending, according to the U.S. Courts.
Wednesday’s full hearing can be watched online.
For more on federal judicial vacancies in Indiana, pick up the Sept. 13 issue of Indiana Lawyer.
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