Superior Court of the District of Columbia Nomination of Dorothy Sellers and Ricardo M. Urbina To Be Associate Judges.

The President has nominated Dorothy Sellers and Ricardo M. Urbina to two vacancies on the District of Columbia Superior Court. The President originally nominated Sellers and Urbina to these positions on September 17, 1980, but the Senate failed to act on their nominations before the 96th Congress ended.

The statute governing selection of District of Columbia judges requires the President to submit nominations within 60 days after receiving recommendations from the District of Columbia Nomination Commission, but the statute is ambiguous on how this period is to be calculated. Since 55 of the 60 days had expired when the President sent up the now-expired nominations, it was necessary for the President to act within the first 5 days of the 97th Congress to ensure that there would be no legal question concerning the timeliness of the Presidential action.

Sellers has been a partner in the firm of Melrod, Redman, Gartlan since 1977. She was born May 7, 1943, in St. Louis, Mo. She received a B.A. from Stanford University in 1965 and a J.D. from George Washington Law School in 1969.

Urbina has been a professor at Howard University Law School since 1974. He was born January 31, 1946, in New York City. He received a B.A. from Georgetown University in 1967 and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1970.