WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a significant step toward diversifying the federal judiciary, according to the Sacramento Bee, the U.S. Senate recently confirmed Judges Benjamin Cheeks and Serena Murillo to U.S. District Court positions in California.
These confirmations were especially important because, the Bee opines, the Senate has struggled to confirm judges for months due to party divisions. This vote was the last before Republicans took control of the Senate.
The Bee reports “Cheeks is the 63rd Black judge” and “Murillo is the 150th woman,” and they continue to emphasize the diversity Biden introduced by appointing 39 Latino judges during his time in office.
Both Cheeks and Murillo were confirmed by a slim 49-47 vote and both votes were party lines as “no Republicans backed either nominee,” stated the Bee.
“Judges Cheeks and Murillo have deep roots in the Southern California legal community, and their extensive litigation and judicial experience will serve them well on the federal bench,” said Senator Alex Padilla, D-California as reported by the Bee.
Padilla, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been instrumental in advancing Biden’s judicial nominees.
The Bee reports that, since July, Cheeks has served as a U.S. magistrate judge for the Southern District of California, following years as a criminal defense attorney and assistant U.S. attorney in the region.
Cheeks received his law degree from the American University, Washington College of Law in 2003 and his B.A. from the University of Miami, Florida in 2000.
Murillo’s qualifications, notes the Bee, include time as a Los Angeles Superior Court judge since 2015, and she was a deputy DA in LA county from 1997 to 2014.
The Bee adds Murillo received her law degree from Loyola Law School in 1996 and her bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego in 1993.
