The President is announcing the nominations of eight new federal judicial nominees and his intent to nominate a ninth federal judicial nominee-all of whom are extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution.
These choices also continue to fulfill the President's promise to ensure that the nation's courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country-both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds.
For example, if confirmed, this slate would include:
? The first openly LGBT judge to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
? The second Latina to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
? The second AAPI woman-and first Chinese American woman-to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
This is President Biden's twenty-fourth round of nominees for federal judicial positions and his eleventh slate of nominations in 2022, bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 132.
President Biden has spent decades committed to strengthening the federal bench, which is why he continues to move rapidly to fill judicial vacancies. And he has won confirmation of the most lower court judges for the first year of a presidency since the Kennedy Administration.
Circuit Court Announcements
- Julie Rikelman: Candidate for United States Circuit Court for the First Circuit
Julie Rikelman is the United States Litigation Director for the Center for Reproductive Rights, where she has worked since 2011. From 2006 to 2011, Ms. Rikelman held numerous positions at NBC Universal, Inc., including Vice President of Litigation. She was previously a senior associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York from 2004 to 2006 and an associate at Feldman & Orlansky in Anchorage, Alaska from 2001 to 2004. From 1999 to 2001, Ms. Rikelman was a Blackmun Fellow at the Center for Reproductive Rights. She served as a law clerk for Judge Morton Greenberg on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1998 to 1999 and for Justice Dana Fabe on the Alaska Supreme Court from 1997 to 1998.
Ms. Rikelman received her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1997 and her A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1993. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Ms. Rikelman immigrated to the United States with her family in 1979.
- Maria Araújo Kahn: Candidate for United States Circuit Court for the Second Circuit
Maria Araújo Kahn has served as an Associate Justice on the Connecticut Supreme Court since 2017. In 2017, Justice Kahn served as a judge on the Connecticut Appellate Court. From 2006 to 2017, Justice Kahn was a judge on the Connecticut Superior Court. Justice Kahn was previously an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Connecticut from 1997 to 2006. From 1993 to 1997, Justice Kahn was a staff attorney at the Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Disabilities, and from 1991 to 1993, she was a Deputy Assistant Public Defender in the Division of Public Defender Services. Justice Kahn served as a law clerk for Judge Peter Dorsey on the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut from 1989 to 1991.
Justice Kahn received her J.D. from Fordham Law School in 1989 and her B.A., cum laude, from New York University in 1986. Born in Benguela, Angola, Justice Kahn immigrated to the United States with her family in 1975.
District Court Announcements
- Judge Daniel Calabretta: Candidate for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
Daniel Calabretta has served as a judge on the Superior Court of Sacramento County, California since 2019. He previously served as a Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary in the Office of Governor Jerry Brown from 2013 to 2018 and as a Deputy Attorney General in the California Department of Justice from 2008 to 2013. Judge Calabretta was an associate at Munger, Tolles and Olson LLP from 2005 to 2008. Judge Calabretta served as a law clerk for Justice John Paul Stevens on the United States Supreme Court from 2004 to 2005 and for Judge William Fletcher on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2003 to 2004. Judge Calabretta received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 2003 and his B.A. from Princeton University in 2000. - Todd E. Edelman: Candidate for the District of the District of Columbia-Intent to Nominate
Todd E. Edelman has served as an Associate Judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia since 2010. From 2008 to 2010, Judge Edelman was a Visiting Associate Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center. Judge Edelman was Of Counsel at Bredhoff and Kaiser, PLLC from 2005 to 2008. From 1997 to 2005, Edelman was an attorney in various roles at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Judge Edelman was an E. Barrett Prettyman Fellow in the Criminal Justice Clinic at Georgetown University Law Center from 1995 to 1997. He served as a law clerk for Judge William B. Bryant on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia from 1994 to 1995. Edelman received his J.D., cum laude, from New York University School of Law in 1994 and his B.A., cum laude, from Yale University in 1990. - Jeffery P. Hopkins: Candidate for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
Jeffery P. Hopkins is a judge on the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio, where he has served since 1996. Judge Hopkins previously was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio from 1990 to 1993. Judge Hopkins was also an associate at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP (now Squire Patton Boggs LLP) from 1987 to 1990. He served as a law clerk for Judge Alan Norris on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1986 to 1987 and the Ohio Court of Appeals from 1985 to 1986. Judge Hopkins received his J.D. from The Ohio State University in 1985 and his A.B. from Bowdoin College in 1982. - Justice Myong J. Joun: Candidate for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Myong J. Joun has served as an Associate Justice on the Boston Municipal Court since 2014. Justice Joun previously was a solo practitioner from 2007 to 2014. Justice Joun was an associate at Howard Friedman P.C. from 1999 to 2007. Justice Joun received his J.D. from Suffolk University in 1999 and his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Boston in 1994. Justice Joun is a veteran of the United States Army and the Massachusetts National Guard. - Julia Kobick: Candidate for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
Julia Kobick has served as Deputy State Solicitor in the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General since 2021, and previously served as an Assistant Attorney General in the same office from 2013 to 2021. Ms. Kobick served as a law clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the United States Supreme Court from 2012 to 2013, Judge Michael Chagares on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 2011 to 2012, and Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts from 2010 to 2011. Ms. Kobick received her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2010 and B.A. from Harvard College in 2005. - Judge Rita F. Lin: Candidate for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Rita Lin has served as a judge on the Superior Court of San Francisco County, California since 2018. She was previously an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of California from 2014 to 2018. Before that, Judge Lin was a partner at Morrison and Foerster LLP, where she worked from 2004 to 2014. She served as a law clerk for Judge Sandra Lynch on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from 2003 to 2004. Judge Lin received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2003 and B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 2000. - Araceli Martinez-Olguin: Candidate for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Araceli Martinez-Olguin is a supervising attorney at the National Immigration Law Center, where she has worked since 2018. She previously served as the managing attorney at the Immigrants' Rights Project at Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, California from 2017 to 2018 and as an attorney for the United States Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights from 2016 to 2017. Ms. Martinez-Olguin also worked at the American Civil Liberties Union and at Legal Aid at Work's National Origin and Immigrants' Rights Program. Ms. Martinez-Olguin served as a law clerk for Judge David Briones on the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas from 2004 to 2006. She received her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2004 and her A.B. from Princeton University in 1999.