[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 18, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Judicial Nominations

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this week, the Senate will consider three 
outstanding nominees to the Federal district courts.
  All three nominees are eminently qualified for the Federal bench and 
have the character and judicial temperament to serve with distinction. 
The nominees likewise represent important progress in ensuring that the 
Federal judiciary reflects the nation it serves.
  First is Jennifer Rochon, who has been nominated to serve on the U.S. 
District Court for the Southern District of New York.
  Today, Ms. Rochon serves as the first general counsel of the Girl 
Scouts of the United States of America, a role she first assumed in 
2013. She provides guidance, strategic insight, and legal counsel on a 
wide range of issues, and she also advises the Girl Scouts' board of 
directors on their fiduciary duties.
  Prior to joining the organization, Ms. Rochon was a partner at Kramer 
Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP and a general commercial litigator, 
experience that will serve her well on the district court. Notably, she 
was also elected by Kramer Levin's partnership to be the first woman to 
serve on the firm's executive committee.
  Over the course of her career, Ms. Rochon has advocated for gender 
equality and the advancement of women in the legal profession. She is 
yet another example of President Biden's commitment to a professionally 
diverse, exceptionally qualified judiciary, and I know she will serve 
the Southern District of New York well.
  Ms. Rochon has the strong support of her home State Senators, Mr. 
Schumer and Mrs. Gillibrand, and she was unanimously rated ``Well 
Qualified'' by the American Bar Association.
  Given the depth of her experience and her demonstrated prowess in the 
law, I am proud to support Ms. Rochon's nomination, and I encourage my 
colleagues to do the same.
  Our next nominee is Judge Trina Thompson. With 14 years as a trial 
litigator and over 21 years of service to the Alameda County Superior 
Court, Judge Thompson is unquestionably qualified to serve as a Federal 
district court judge.
  She began her legal career as an assistant public defender at the 
Alameda County Public Defender's Office, where she tried over 35 cases 
as sole counsel over the course of 4 years. She then spent 10 years as 
a criminal defense solo practitioner, trying over 30 additional cases 
as sole counsel and another eight cases as cocounsel.
  Back in 2000, the Alameda County Superior Court Judges appointed 
Judge Thompson to serve as a juvenile court commissioner on the 
Dependency and Delinquency Court. Just 2 years later, she was elected 
as an Alameda County Superior Court Judge, a role she continues to hold 
to this day.
  Throughout her 22 years of judicial service, Judge Thompson has 
presided over 150 criminal jury trials, thousands of hearings, and 
hundreds of criminal and civil bench trials.
  With her incredible depth of trial experience on and off the bench, 
it is no surprise that this Bay Area native, who earned both her A.B. 
and her J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, has the 
strong support of her home State Senators, Mrs. Feinstein and Mr. 
Padilla.
  It is also no wonder that the American Bar Association unanimously 
rated Judge Thompson as ``Well Qualified.''
  The decades of trial litigation and judicial experience that Judge 
Thomas has accumulated will be an immense asset to the Northern 
District of California, which has a number of vacancies that urgently 
need to be filled by qualified judges.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in supporting her 
confirmation.
  Finally, the Senate will vote on Judge Sunshine Sykes, who has been 
nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Central District 
of California.
  Judge Sykes is an experienced litigator and jurist with a long record 
of unbiased decision-making. She attended Stanford University and 
Stanford Law School before beginning her legal career with a focus on 
civil litigation and juvenile dependency cases. She served as a staff 
attorney for California Indian Legal Services; worked for the juvenile 
defense panel in Murrieta, CA; and served as a deputy county counsel in 
Riverside County.
  In 2013, Sykes was appointed to serve as a California Superior Court 
judge. As a member of the Navajo Nation, she was the first Native 
American individual to sit on the Riverside Superior Court. During her 
time as a Superior Court judge, she has presided over more than 90 
cases that have gone to verdict or judgment and over thousands of 
additional hearings.
  Judge Sykes has the strong support of Senator Feinstein and Senator 
Padilla, and she was unanimously rated ``Well Qualified'' by the 
American Bar Association. If confirmed, she will be the first Native 
American article III judge to serve in California.
  Her record on the bench is deeply impressive, and she will continue 
to administer justice in a thoughtful, evenhanded manner as a district 
court judge. I will vote to confirm her to the Central District of 
California. I hope my colleagues join me in doing the same.

                          ____________________