Fernandez Nominated for Seat on U.S. Appeals Court

WASHINGTON — President Reagan on Thursday nominated U.S. District Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez of Los Angeles to fill a vacancy on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The proposed elevation of Fernandez, 51, who has been on the federal bench for three years, faces an uncertain fate in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which reviews nominees before Senate confirmation. The President recently has complained that the panel is holding up 28 judicial nominations.

The Fernandez nomination, announced by the President to a meeting of Latino reporters at the White House, would replace that of San Diego law professor Bernard H. Siegan, a conservative scholar and friend of former Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III. Siegan’s nomination was rejected by the Judiciary Committee in June.

Committee Republicans have charged that the Democratic-controlled panel is holding up judicial nominations so that Michael S. Dukakis, the Democratic presidential nominee, may make his own selections if he wins in November.

Chances that Fernandez’s nomination will even be scheduled for a hearing appear slim because Congress is rushing to adjourn by the first week of October.

Fernandez, who is married and has two children, was a Superior Court judge in San Bernardino from 1980 to 1985. He has law degrees from the University of Southern California School of Law and from Harvard Law School.

The 9th circuit has jurisdiction over California and eight other Western states.