Senate Confirms One of Judiciary’s Youngest Trial Court Judges

Civil rights lawyer Tiffany Cartwright won confirmation to the Seattle-based trial court and will be one of the youngest federal judges when she takes the bench.

The Senate voted 50-47 on Wednesday to send Cartwright, born in 1985, to the US District Court for Western District of Washington.

First nominated in January 2022 before being renominated this year, Cartwright will replace Judge Benjamin Hale. His seat has been open since Jan. 1, 2020, when he assumed senior status, a form of semi-retirement.

With the confirmations of Cartwright and Kymberly Evanson, on Tuesday, Joe Biden has now appointed all of the active judges in the Western District.

Including Cartwright, Biden has seated a number of judges under 40. Bradley Garcia, the first Latino confirmed to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, and Jamar Walker for the Eastern District of Virginia, are the others.

Several district and appellate nominees of Donald Trump drew Democratic and other criticism over age and limited legal experience as he reshaped the judiciary with younger conservatives during his four years in office.

For example, Aileen Cannon, appointed at 39 in 2020, is overseeing Trump’s historic classified documents criminal case in the Southern District of Florida.

And Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a 2012 law school graduate, was confirmed in 2020 at 33 to the Middle District of Florida, which includes Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville. Mizelle made headlines when she struck down Biden’s pandemic-era mask mandate for air travelers.

Older lawyers may be more seasoned as legal practitioners, but the transition from lawyer to judge often entails handling unfamiliar areas of law and learning on the job, regardless of age, said Russell Wheeler, a Brookings Institution fellow who studies judicial nominations.

“That could be true if they’re 35 or if they’re 55,” Wheeler said.

Diversity Prioritized

Republicans have focused their criticism most on the demographic and professional diversity of Biden’s nominees than on the ages of his younger appointments.

Cartwright was a civil rights lawyer and former public defender, roles which haven’t often been paths to the judiciary. She was a lawyer at civil rights firm MacDonald Hoague & Bayless since 2014 before being confirmed.

Cartwright received support for her nomination from several groups, including the Washington State Association for Justice and fellow former clerks to the late Judge Betty Binns Fletcher of the Ninth Circuit.

Noting their diverse viewpoints, backgrounds and careers, the three dozen former clerks lauded Cartwright’s civil litigation and trial experience as well as her role as a defender.

“As a judge, she will listen to arguments with an open mind, make prompt decisions, and give reasons for them that all parties can understand, even when they disagree with the outcome,” they wrote in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senators were also scheduled to vote on confirmation of Boston municipal court Judge Myong Joun for the District of Massachusetts. Once seated, Joun would be the first Asian-American man on the federal bench in the state.

Louisiana Nominees

At a hearing on Wednesday, Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee pressed Biden trial court nominee Brandon Long on his role as deputy chief of staff to FBI Director Christopher Wray from 2020-21 regarding a federal investigation of Hunter Biden and other allegations about the Justice Department that have angered conservatives.

Long, who was nominated to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana with the support of the state’s two Republican senators, said he had no information regarding “more recent” investigations, including of the president’s son.

“This involves an open investigation,” Long said in responding to questions from Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the top Republican on the Judiciary panel. “As a Department of Justice attorney as well as a judicial nominee, I’m bound not to comment on open investigations.”

Black Caucus Concerns

At the hearing, Democrats also responded to a request from nine members of the Congressional Black Caucus that the White House withdraw the nominations of Long and fellow federal prosecutor Jerry Edwards, who’s been tapped for the Western District of Louisiana.

Those House lawmakers, including Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.), alleged in a June letter to Biden that they weren’t allowed “meaningful participation” in the selection process.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), the lone Black member of the Judiciary Committee, took a bipartisan tone in recognizing fellow Black Caucus members. Booker said he was disappointed with “some mistakes the White House made in a process sense” and pledged to address those concerns.

Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) also acknowledged Black Caucus concerns, saying the White House should consider their views.

“I also know that the Louisiana senators have, over the last several months, answered my invitation and challenge to work in good faith with the White House on judicial and executive nominees,” Durbin said.