WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, moving on the recommendation of Sen. Lindsey Graham, nominated to the federal bench Wednesday a South Carolina family court judge with a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Obama sent to the Senate the nomination of Timothy M. Cain to replace U.S. District Judge G. Ross Anderson, a 1980 appointee of President Jimmy Carter who's been on semi-retired "senior status" with a reduced workload for two years.
Obama cited Cain's "unwavering commitment to justice" and expressed confidence he would "continue to serve the American people with integrity."
Cain, 50, received undergraduate and law degrees from the University of South Carolina. Before being elected to the family court in 2000, he was a public defender and a local prosecutor.
Graham and Cain practiced law together for three years in the early 1990s at the Brandt and Fedder law firm in Graham's hometown of Seneca.
"Tim is one of the finest men I have ever known," Graham said. "He is well-grounded and has a conservative approach to the law. I think he will make an outstanding federal judge for the people of South Carolina. I look forward to shepherding his nomination through the United States Senate."
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments March 23 in a 2008 case in which Cain sentenced an indigent man, Michael D. Turner, to a year in prison for failing to make child-support payments. The state Supreme Court upheld Cain's sentence.
There are currently 83 U.S. district court vacancies, with 37 nominees pending.
