Obama appoints 5 Federal Judges, more glass ceilings shatter

usregimechange

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Sun Jan-24-10 12:29 AM
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Obama appoints 5 Federal Judges, more glass ceilings shatter

Edited on Sun Jan-24-10 12:31 AM by usregimechange

Judge Lucy H. Koh, Judge, Superior Court of California
Nominee for the United States District Court, Northern District of California
41 years old

She is "poised to become the first Korean-American federal court judge in the country" (San Jose Mercury News).

Judge Lucy H. Koh currently sits on the Superior Court of California for the County of Santa Clara, the state's trial court of general jurisdiction. Prior to being appointed to the bench by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008, she was in private practice in Palo Alto, where she was a litigation partner representing technology companies in patent, trade secret, and commercial civil matters. Prior to her work in private practice, Judge Koh was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California. She is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California. Judge Koh received her B.A. from Harvard University in 1990 and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1993.

Judge Audrey Goldstein Fleissig, United States magistrate judge, Eastern District of Missouri
Nominee for the United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri
54 years old

"Fleissig was the first woman to hold the post of United States attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri" (Washington University).

Judge Audrey Goldstein Fleissig is a United States magistrate judge for the Eastern District of Missouri, a position she has held for the last eight years. Prior to taking the bench, Fleissig was a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District, where she also served as the Senate-confirmed United States Attorney (Clinton appointee) for approximately one year. Before joining the United States Attorney's Office in 1991, Fleissig was in private practice at the St. Louis firm of Peper Martin Jensen Maichel and Hetlage (now Husch Blackwell Sanders), first as an associate from 1980 to 1989, and later as a partner from 1989 to1991. She is the former President of the Women Lawyer’s Association of Greater St. Louis and is a member of the National Association of Women Judges. Fleissig received her Bachelor's degree from Carleton College in 1976. In 1980, she received her J.D. from Washington University School of Law, where she is an adjunct professor.

Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson, United States Magistrate Judge, Southern District of Indiana
Nominee for the United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana
51 years old

Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson serves as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Indiana, a position to which she was appointed in January 2007. Prior to her appointment, she served 12 years as a Superior Court judge for Marion County, Indiana, where she served on the Court's Executive Committee, supervised the Probation Department, and was one of six judges presiding over major felony cases. Judge Magnus-Stinson has been an active member of the Indianapolis Bar Association, including as chair of its Pro Bono Standing Committee, co-chair of its Professionalism Committee, and Moderator of its leadership series. Prior to becoming a judge, Magnus-Stinson was counsel and deputy chief of staff to then-Governor Evan Bayh, and before that was in private litigation practice with the Indianapolis firm of Lewis, Bowman, St. Clair and Wagner (now Lewis Wagner). Magnus-Stinson was named Outstanding Judge by the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence and receieved the Outstanding Service Award from the Indiana Coalition Against Sexual Assault. She graduated cum laude from Butler University in 1979 and from the Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis in 1983.

Tanya Walton Pratt, Judge, Marion County Superior Court
Nominee for the United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana
50 years old

"Pratt would become the first African-American federal judge in Indiana history" (Senator Bayh press release).

Judge Tanya Walton Pratt currently sits in the Probate Division of the Marion County Superior Court. Prior to her assignment to the probate court in 2009, Judge Pratt was a trial judge in the Marion County Superior Court’s Criminal Division, presiding over major felony matters for 12 years. Judge Pratt has been a member of the Marion Superior Court’s four-member Executive Committee, which oversees the administrative operations of the court, since 2006. In 2007, Judge Pratt became Supervising Judge of the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center. Prior to taking the bench in 1997, she was in private practice and also served as a deputy public defender. She is a member of the House of Delegates for the Indiana Bar Association and was Chair of the Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday Commission in Indiana from 2001 to 2007. Judge Pratt received her B.A. from Spelman College in 1981 and her J.D. from Howard University School of Law in 1984.

"Judge Walton Pratt volunteers at a local food pantry."

Jon DeGuilio, Executive Vice President Northwest Indiana Bancorp
Nominee for the United States District Court, Northern District of Indiana
53 years old

A former President Clinton appointee as US Attorney and records indicate a 2008 Hillary Clinton donor.

Jon DeGuilio has been Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Peoples Bank/Northwest Indiana Bancorp in Munster, Indiana since 2001. Mr. DeGuilio served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana from 1993 to 1999, and was the Lake County Prosecutor from 1989 to 1993. He also has been in private practice and served as a deputy prosecutor and public defender. Mr. DeGuilio received his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1977 and his J.D. from Valparaiso University School of Law in 1981.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-nominates-five-serve-united-states-district-court-bench