The Biden administration’s nominee to fill an upcoming federal court vacancy in Colorado appeared for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday with a strong endorsement of his character from the state’s legal community, while facing a tense line of questioning from one Republican U.S. senator.

S. Kato Crews, who is currently a magistrate judge for Colorado’s seven-member U.S. District Court, is the White House’s choice to succeed Raymond P. Moore, a Barack Obama appointee who is stepping down from active service in June.

“Kato’s family didn’t have a lot as he was growing up, but his parents worked hard to put him and his sister first,” U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet told the Senate Judiciary Committee in introducing Crews. He elaborated that Crews was born in Pueblo and went to school in Rye, where he was the only Black male student at his high school.

“His dad had a solo law practice in Pueblo. And while Kato didn’t exactly know what his dad did for work, he knew he was helping people, he had the respect of his community and he looked great in a suit,” Bennet said.

However, during Crews’ appearance before the committee, U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., launched into a list of his decisions or recommended courses of action that had been partially or completely reversed on appeal — 18 in total.

“Tell me why you’ve been reversed so often,” Kennedy requested.

“I’ve issued over 1,500 recommendations and orders over the course of my career,” responded Crews. “When I approach any of these cases, I approach them all in the same fashion, which is to analyze the law, analyze Supreme Court and 10th Circuit precedent that bears on those cases.”

Crews graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in 1997 and received a law degree from the University of Arizona in 2000. He then spent one year working for the National Labor Relations Board investigating and prosecuting allegations of unfair labor practices by employers.

Beginning in 2001 and for the next 17 years, Crews was in private practice largely defending employers against civil lawsuits. He also began to represent individual workers and a union.

“My typical employee clients ranged from blue collar workers to highly compensated individuals,” Crews wrote in response to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s questionnaire.

The committee received letters of support from civil rights and workers’ rights attorneys who faced off against Crews in his work defending companies. They voiced their respect for Crews, even if he opposed them in the courtroom or sided against them as a judge.

“We similarly have never seen him exhibit bias or disrespect toward a party or counsel and have witnessed him handle challenging situations with calm and grace,” the 12 lawyers wrote. “Put simply, when he was an attorney, we observed Magistrate Judge Crews treat employee plaintiffs with the utmost respect and professionalism while still zealously advocating for his clients.”

Vince Shaw, a longtime Teamsters union representative, also told the Senate he sat across from Crews earlier in their careers during employee disputes.

“Not once over the span (of ) ten years in which we worked together did I witness Mr. Crews raise his voice or treat myself or any union associate in a demeaning way. I feel that he understood my/our positions just as we tried to understand where he and clients stood on positions,” Shaw wrote.

Testimonials on behalf of Crews also touched on his work within the legal profession. He has been a mentor to students, serves on the Colorado Judicial Well-Being Committee and sponsors “Crews’ Crew Chit Chats,” in which he invites law students in Colorado into his chambers to talk with diverse members of the legal community.

Notably, Crews brought two of his law clerks with him to the hearing.

Endorsements of Crews also came from Colorado’s women, Hispanic and Asian Pacific American bar associations, the latter of which described Crews’ own sense of “obligation” to be a positive role model. Colorado Supreme Court Justice Monica M. Márquez, who has known Crews for more than a decade, similarly praised his commitment to sharing his time and knowledge with others.

“Kato is a man of impeccable character. He exudes judicial temperament — in spades,” she wrote.

Crews joined Colorado’s federal trial court in 2018 as a magistrate judge, a position that focuses on preliminary and administrative matters in cases. Magistrate judges can, however, handle nearly all the tasks of the life-tenured district judges. Crews has presided over six civil trials in that time.

Kennedy honed in on Crews’ track record, and specifically on the 18 instances in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit reversed a decision by Crews or a district judge reviewed his recommendation in a case and disagreed with it. In one instance, the 10th Circuit reinstated the lawsuit of an inmate, Jason Brooks, who claimed prison officials failed to reasonably accommodate his bowel disease when they provided only adult diapers.

Crews initially sided with the Colorado Department of Corrections, but the 10th Circuit found he misconstrued Brooks’ testimony and reversed him. A jury awarded Brooks $3.5 million in December, with Crews presiding over the trial.

Kennedy also asked Crews how he would handle a “Brady motion,” a reference to the U.S. Supreme Court case of Brady v. Maryland that requires prosecutors to turn over relevant information that is favorable to the criminally accused.

“In my 4.5 years on the bench, I don’t believe I’ve had the occasion to address a Brady motion,” Crews responded.

“Do you know what a Brady motion is?” Kennedy continued. “Do you recall the U.S. Supreme Court case?”

Crews said he recalled the name, but incorrectly believed it “involved something regarding the Second Amendment,” a constitutional provision relating to firearms.

Colorado Politics could not immediately locate a case in which Crews had to rule on a Brady motion.

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond who tracks federal judicial nominations, felt Crews’ stumble at the hearing was unlikely to pose a problem, given Crews’ large volume of work as a judge.

“The 18 examples of partial reversals out of 1,500 are not an issue either as that is a great percentage of affirmances,” Tobias added.

The same day Crews appeared before the committee, the full Senate confirmed U.S. Magistrate Judge Gordon P. Gallagher to a current vacancy on Colorado’s district court. If Crews is confirmed, he will be President Joe Biden’s fifth appointee to the court and the third magistrate judge to be elevated. Gallagher was also reversed more than a dozen times on appeal, but no one asked him about that topic during his confirmation hearing.

Some of Crews’ endorsement letters raised the fact that Colorado would continue to have a Black judge on its federal bench if Crews were to succeed Moore.

“Magistrate Judge Crews is the District’s first Black Magistrate Judge and we believe it fitting he be nominated to fill a seat vacated by a Judge of color,” wrote the 12 civil rights lawyers.