Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, opened a nominations hearing on Wednesday for several key positions in the federal judiciary and Department of Justice. The panel considered A. Tysen Duva for Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, as well as Justice William J. Crain and Alexander Van Hook for district court judgeships in Louisiana.
In his prepared statement, Grassley highlighted Duva’s nearly two decades as a federal prosecutor in Florida’s Middle District. “He has extensive experience conducting investigations and prosecuting a wide array of criminal offenses. These include drug trafficking, violent crime, public corruption, fraud and illegal immigration,” Grassley said. He added that Duva had prosecuted hundreds of cases, tried 22 to verdict, and received awards from agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. “Mr. Duva’s success in prosecuting difficult cases certainly commands respect. And his real-world experience will be an asset to the Criminal Division.”
Justice Crain was noted for his forty years as an attorney and fifteen years serving at every level of Louisiana’s state courts. “He spent three years as a trial judge for Louisiana’s 22nd Judicial District Court,” Grassley stated. Crain later served six years on Louisiana’s First Circuit Court of Appeals before joining the Supreme Court of Louisiana in 2019. “As a jurist, Justice Crain has presided over and authored hundreds of judicial opinions,” Grassley said.
Grassley also praised Van Hook’s qualifications, citing his clerkships with judges on both the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and Western District of Louisiana District Court. Van Hook has worked twenty-five years as a federal prosecutor in Louisiana’s Western District office, serving various roles including Deputy Criminal Chief and Acting U.S. Attorney. “Mr. Van Hook has extensive courtroom experience, litigating hundreds of cases and trying 18 cases to verdict before a jury,” Grassley remarked.
Senators Kennedy and Moody were scheduled to provide further introductions during the hearing.
Grassley reminded attendees that each senator would have five minutes per round for questions to keep proceedings on schedule and announced that Senator Kennedy would preside over part of the session following his own questions.
