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Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Ind. Courts - Judge Van Bokkelen? Lugar recommends prosecutor to succeed Judge Lozano

Joe Carlson of the Munster (NW Indiana) Times reports today:

The White House is considering appointing U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen to a federal judgeship in Hammond next year, the office of an Indiana senator confirmed Monday.

U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar has asked President Bush to appoint the region's top federal prosecutor to replace Judge Rudy Lozano, who plans to move into semiretirement in July.

"Senator Lugar has been extremely impressed with the record of Mr. Van Bokkelen," Lugar spokesman Andy Fisher said. "He is certainly a person who is being considered for the job."

A federal source, who declined to be named, said Van Bokkelen is apparently the only person being considered to replace Lozano and that the appointment is considered likely, assuming the prosecutor passes an FBI background check.

Lozano announced in July that he plans to step down on his 65th birthday in July, the source said. Federal judges are asked to give one year's notice before planned retirement.

Lozano was appointed U.S. District Court judge in 1988. Rather than fully retire, Lozano is expected to become a senior judge and could take on anywhere from a full workload to one-quarter of the typical number of cases. Senior judges also can be called upon to hear cases anywhere in the nation. * * *

Since his appointment five years ago, Van Bokkelen's office has sent to prison more than 30 public officials, including former U.S. Congresswoman Katie Hall, former State Democratic Party Chairman Peter Manous and former Lake County auditor and assessor Peter Benjamin.

Van Bokkelen's office also took on the East Chicago political machine, sending six city officials and six contractors to prison for engineering the sidewalks-for-votes scheme that drained more than $24 million from the city to buy re-election for eight-term Mayor Robert Pastrick.

Before becoming U.S. attorney, Van Bokkelen was a private attorney in Highland, an assistant federal prosecutor and a special assistant to the Lake County prosecutor's office.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 7, 2006 09:03 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts