4 judges nominated to Central District of California

Jennifer Sung, a member of the Oregon Employment Relations Board, was confirmed Wednesday to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

She cleared the Senate 50-49. One Republican, Cynthia M. Lummis of Wyoming, was absent.

The vote occurred on a busy day for the judicial nomination front. Biden nominated four judges for the Central District of California, and the Senate Judiciary Committee considered the nomination of U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruth Bermudez Montenegro of San Diego for a seat on the Southern District of California bench.

Sung will replace 9th Circuit Judge Susan P. Graber -- an appointee of President Bill Clinton -- on the 9th Circuit, filling an Oregon seat on the court. Her addition does not change the partisan divide on the appellate court, which is split between 16 selections of Democratic presidents and 13 judges picked by Republicans.

The four Central District nominees are Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, a former federal prosecutor; U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenly Kiya Kato, a former federal defender; Orange County Superior Court Judge Fred W. Slaughter, another former federal prosecutor; and Riverside County Superior Court Judge Sunshine Suzanne Sykes, a former deputy county counsel and a member of the Navajo Nation.

Biden has nominated candidates to fill all the six vacancies on the Central District bench. A seventh position will open early next year.

In a joint statement, California's Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla praised Biden's nominations, which they said would address a court in a judicial emergency "with the most overcrowded dockets in the country."

"These smart and capable nominees will bring diverse expertise to the federal bench and strengthen our judiciary," they wrote.

The president's Central District nominations prompted a denunciation by Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, who criticized the Biden administration and California's Democratic senators for not picking more Hispanics for the Los Angeles based court.

Montenegro did not draw any questions from Republican senators during her Senate Judiciary Committee nomination hearing for a Southern District of California vacancy. The daughter of Mexican immigrants has been a magistrate judge since 2018 and was an Imperial County Superior Court judge.

One of her younger sisters, Eran M. Bermudez, is also an Imperial County Superior Court judge. Another sister, Nadia P. Bermudez, is an attorney with Klinedinst PC in San Diego.

Padilla took note of her "nontraditional pathway to the bench," which includes a community college education before she attended UCLA School of Law, as well as experience as an assistant superintendent at El Centro Elementary School District.

It is not clear when the judiciary committee will vote on Montenegro's nomination, or whether it will be considered by the full Senate before the end of the year. If not, it is possible Biden might renominate her in 2022 unless Senate Democratic and Republican leaders strike an agreement.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, is pushing ahead with Biden's 9th Circuit picks. He said on the Senate floor he may file cloture on more judicial nominations Wednesday.

The Senate has confirmed two of Biden's four 9th Circuit nominees this week: Sung and U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh of San Jose.

Sung, a former labor organizer, has a California background. She worked as an associate at Altshuler Berzon LLP in San Francisco from 2007 to 2013 before relocating to Oregon.

Republicans on the judiciary committee criticized Sung for signing a letter by Yale Law School alumni blasting then-U. S. Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh as "an intellectually and morally bankrupt ideologue" and stating that "people will die" if he was confirmed.

Sung responded to questions about the letter by noting she didn't write it and adding that she "recognized that much of its rhetoric was overheated." She also promised to respect Supreme Court precedent.

The judiciary committee tied on Sung's nomination, forcing Schumer to file a discharge petition so her nomination could be considered by the Senate. Vice President Kamala Harris broke a 49-49 tie on that vote so the nomination could advance. Given her background as a labor attorney, Sung's nomination is an example of the professional diversity Biden pledged to promote in his judicial nominees.

Votes on Biden's other two 9th Circuit nominees are expected to occur by the end of the month.

Gabriel P. Sanchez, a 1st District Court of Appeal justice, is due for a confirmation vote after he was narrowly confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Holly A. Thomas will need a discharge petition for a full Senate vote because the judiciary committee deadlocked on her nomination.

The timing of votes on California district court nominees who have cleared the judiciary committee or need a discharge petition is still uncertain. Other judicial nominees in the state have not had committee hearings.