THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

                PRESIDENT CLINTON NOMINATES ANNA J. BROWN,
                     FAITH HOCHBERG, ALSTON JOHNSON,
                   AND KERMIT BYE TO THE FEDERAL BENCH

The President today nominated Anna J. Brown to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Faith Hochberg to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Alston Johnson to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Louisiana), and Kermit Bye to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit (North Dakota).

Anna J. Brown is a judge on the Multnomah County Circuit Court in Oregon. She received a B.S. degree in 1975 from Portland State University and a J.D. in 1980 from Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College. Prior to her appointment to the circuit court, she served on the Multnomah County District Court from 1992 to 1994. Previously, Judge Brown worked as an associate and partner with the law firm of Bullivant, Houser and Bailey for twelve years. During law school, Brown was a law clerk to the Honorable John C. Beatty, Jr. of the Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Faith S. Hochberg is the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. She received her B.A. summa cum laude from Tufts University (1972) and a J.D. summa cum laude from Harvard Law School (1975). Prior to her appointment as United States Attorney, Ms. Hochberg served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (1993-1994), and as Senior Deputy Chief Counsel in the Office of Thrift Supervision (1990-1993). From 1983 to 1987, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Also, from 1977-1983 and 1987-1990, Ms. Hochberg was in private practice. Following law school, Ms. Hochberg worked as a law clerk to the Honorable Spottswood Robinson of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

H. Alston Johnson, III is a partner at the Baton Rouge office of the regional law firm of Phelps Dunbar. A 1967 cum laude graduate of Georgetown University, he received his J.D. in 1970 from Louisiana State University (LSU). Mr. Johnson joined the faculty of LSU School of Law in 1972, and eventually became a full Professor, specializing in tort and insurance law, as well as Louisiana Civil Code subjects. In August 1983, Mr. Johnson became the Executive Director of the Louisiana Judicial College at LSU Law School, a position he held until June 1984, when he joined Phelps Dunbar as a partner.

Kermit E. Bye has been a partner at Vogel, Kelly, Weir, Bye and Hunke, Ltd. for the past thirty years. Mr. Bye received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Dakota in 1959, and a J.D. with distinction from the University of North Dakota in 1962. Following law school, Mr. Bye served as a North Dakota Deputy Securities Commissioner and Special Assistant Attorney General. From 1966 to 1968, Mr. Bye worked as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of North Dakota. Since 1968, Mr. Bye has been at the Vogel law firm as a partner.

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