Feinstein, Padilla Applaud Three Nominations for California-Based Federal Judgeships

Press Release

Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla (both D-Calif.), members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after the White House announced that President Biden nominated three additional individuals to California-based judgeships.

Judge Daniel Calabretta received a nomination to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California; if confirmed, Judge Calabretta will be the first openly LGBT judge to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. Judge Rita Lin received a nomination to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California; if confirmed, Judge Lin will be the second AAPI woman--and first Chinese American woman--to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Araceli Martinez-Olguin received a nomination to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California; if confirmed she will be the second Latina to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

"We applaud President Biden's nominations of Judge Daniel Calabretta, Judge Lin, and Araceli Martinez-Olguin to serve on California's district courts. Each has unique and extensive experience in the legal field that will serve California well on the bench. We urge our colleagues in the Senate to support their swift confirmation."

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.

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.

As members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senators Feinstein and Padilla have worked closely with the Biden administration to recommend and support the nominations of highly qualified, outstanding judges to federal courts.

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