Press Release
☷President Biden Names Seventeenth Round of Judicial Nominees
White House ( By Press Release office)
Apr 27,2022
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The President is announcing five new federal judicial nominees , 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 , Ana Reyes—who immigrated to the United States as a child—would be the first Hispanic woman to ever serve on the U . S . District Court for the District of Columbia . She would also be the first openly LGBTQ person to ever serve on that court . This is President Biden’s seventeenth round of nominees for federal judicial positions and his fifth slate of nominations in 2022 , bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 95 . 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 CourtJudge Sarah A . L . Merriam: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Judge Sarah A . L . Merriam has served as a U . S . District Court Judge for the District of Connecticut since 2021 . Judge Merriam previously served as a U . S . Magistrate Judge for the District of Connecticut from 2015 to 2021 . She served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the District of Connecticut from 2007 to 2015 . Judge Merriam worked on political campaigns in Connecticut from 2006 to 2007 . She was an associate at the Connecticut - based law firm Cowdery , Ecker & Murphy from 2003 to 2006 . Judge Merriam served as a law clerk for Judge Thomas Meskill on the U . S . Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2002 to 2003 and for Judge Alvin Thompson on the U . S . District Court for the District of Connecticut from 2000 to 2002 . Judge Merriam received her LL . M from Duke Law School in 2018 , her J . D . from Yale Law School in 2000 , and her B . A . from Georgetown University in 1993 . Lara E . Montecalvo: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the First CircuitLara E . Montecalvo is the Public Defender of Rhode Island , a role she has held since 2020 . Ms . Montecalvo previously served as an assistant public defender in the Rhode Island Public Defender’s Office from 2004 to 2020 . She held several roles in that office , including as Chief of the Appellate Division from 2014 to 2020 , an appellate attorney from 2010 to 2014 , and a trial attorney from 2004 to 2010 . Ms . Montecalvo was a trial attorney in the Tax Division of the U . S . Department of Justice from 2000 to 2004 . Ms . Montecalvo received her J . D . , magna cum laude , from Boston College Law School in 2000 and her B . A . from Swarthmore College in 1996 . District CourtJudge Elizabeth Hanes: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of VirginiaJudge Elizabeth Hanes has served as a U . S . Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia since 2020 . From 2016 to 2020 , Judge Hanes was a civil litigator at Consumer Litigation Associates , P . C . in Newport News , Virginia . From 2009 to 2016 , she was an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the Eastern District of Virginia . Judge Hanes served as a law clerk for Judge Robert B . King on the U . S . Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 2008 to 2009 and for Judge Joseph R . Goodwin on the U . S . District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia from 2007 to 2008 . Judge Hanes received her J . D . , summa cum laude , from the University of Richmond School of Law in 2007 , and her B . A . , cum laude , from the University of Richmond in 2000 . Anne M . Nardacci: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of New YorkAnne M . Nardacci is a partner at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP in Albany , New York , where she has worked since 2005 . Prior to being elevated to partner in 2020 , Ms . Nardacci was a counsel from 2012 to 2020 and an associate from 2005 to 2012 . From 2002 to 2005 , Ms . Nardacci was an associate at Skadden , Arps , Slate , Meagher & Flom LLP . Ms . Nardacci received her J . D . , cum laude , from Cornell Law School in 2002 and her B . A . , magna cum laude , from Georgetown University in 1998 . Ana C . Reyes: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of ColumbiaAna C . Reyes is a partner at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington , D . C . , where she has worked since 2001 . Prior to being elevated to partner in 2009 , Ms . Reyes was an associate from 2001 to 2009 . Ms . Reyes served as a law clerk for Judge Amalya Kearse on the U . S . Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2000 to 2001 . Ms . Reyes received her J . D . , magna cum laude , from Harvard Law School in 2000 , her Masters in International Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins School of International Studies , with honors , in 2014 , and her B . S . , summa cum laude , from Transylvania University in 1996 . ###
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