SC’s newest federal judge: Columbia’s Sherri Lydon gets nod from US Senate
Sherri Lydon, Columbia resident and U.S. Attorney for South Carolina, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday afternoon to be a federal judge.
The vote was 76-13.
Before Lydon can become a full-fledged federal judge and hear cases, President Donald Trump must still sign a commission that will formalize her judgeship.
Lydon, 57, who has been the state’s U.S. Attorney since May 2018, was nominated in mid-September by Trump for the prestigious lifetime judgeship. The position pays some $210,000 a year and comes with various perks including the ability to hire two law clerks and a staff assistant-office manager.
Lydon is expected to be based in Florence. Other federal judges are based in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, and Spartanburg.
Some of Trump’s judicial picks have been criticized on ideological grounds or for having little courtroom experience. But Lydon has years of experience as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney and is widely well regarded.
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“I have never known anybody who was more suited to be fair and impartial to anyone who comes before her,”said Columbia attorney Greg Harris who has known Lydon for years. ”Our state is lucky to have her for our next U.S. District Court judge.”
Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond Law School professor who specializes in federal judgeship issues, said Lydon’s confirmation process went fast.
“But she is a well qualified, mainstream nominee, well respected as U.S. Attorney and a practicing lawyer, with both civil and criminal experience, and has the strong support of the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, her home state senator (Lindsey) Graham,” Tobias said.
Graham issued the following statement: “I’m very pleased that Sherri Lydon has been confirmed in a bipartisan vote to serve as a federal district court judge for South Carolina. She is one of our state’s most talented lawyers and has served us well as U.S. Attorney for South Carolina. She enjoys broad support from the South Carolina legal community. I know she will be fair to all who come before her in court and will make our state proud in the years to come.”
Lydon’s September nomination was preceded by several months of behind the scenes vetting by federal law enforcement about her background - a process no doubt made easier by the fact that she had already been vetted before Trump tapped her in 2018 to be SC’s U.S. Attorney.
As the state’s chief federal prosecutor, Lydon has overseen an office of some 140 employees at the headquarters Columbia office, along with satellite offices in Charleston, Greenville and Florence.
Her 55 federal prosecutors handle crimes worked on by the FBI, IRS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal agencies. Lydon’s office has been involved in the ongoing state and federal investigation into the collapse of the $9 billion V.C. Summer Nuclear Station expansion project in Fairfield County. Earlier this year, her office successfully prosecuted former 5th Circuit Solicitor Dan Johnson, who was sentenced to a year in federal prison for stealing public money.
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 1:03 PM.