LAS VEGAS (AP) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is criticizing the way the American Bar Association ranks federal judge nominees, and says he's upset his choice for the federal bench in Nevada didn't get a better rating.
Reid appeared Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C.
The Nevada Democrat accused the bar association of looking more at nominees' prior bench experience than at their "real world" qualifications.
Reid testified in support of Gloria Navarro, a 42-year-old Clark County prosecutor and former public defender nominated by President Obama for U.S. District Court judge in Nevada.
Most of a 15-member bar association committee rated Navarro as "qualified." But a minority rated her "not qualified."