[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 178 (Tuesday, December 3, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6766-S6767]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Nomination of Sparkle L. Sooknanan

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm 
Sparkle Leah Sooknanan to the U.S. District Court for the District of 
Columbia.

[[Page S6767]]

  Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Ms. Sooknanan earned her B.S. from Saint 
Francis College in 2002, her M.B.A. from Hofstra University in 2003, 
and a J.D., summa cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School in 2010.
  After graduating from law school, Ms. Sooknanan served as a law clerk 
to the Honorable Eric N. Vitaliano on the U.S. District Court for the 
Eastern District of New York between 2010 and 2011 and for the 
Honorable Guido Calabresi on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second 
Circuit from 2011 to 2012. Following her clerkships, she joined the 
U.S. Department of Justice through its honors program as an appellate 
attorney in the civil division. Ms. Sooknanan then served as a law 
clerk to Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the U.S. Supreme Court from 2013 to 
2014.
  Following the completion of her Supreme Court clerkship, Ms. 
Sooknanan joined Jones Day in Washington, DC, as an associate between 
2014 and 2019 and, later partner from 2020 to 2021. She spent more than 
6 years at the firm representing clients in complex, multifaceted 
Federal district court and appellate litigation.
  In 2021, Ms. Sooknanan rejoined the Department of Justice as Deputy 
Associate Attorney General in the Associate Attorney General's Office. 
In the fall of 2023, she moved to the civil rights division to serve as 
the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, the second highest 
leadership position in the division.
  The American Bar Association rated Ms. Sooknanan as ``well 
qualified,'' and her nomination is strongly supported by Congresswoman 
Eleanor Holmes Norton.
  Ms. Sooknanan's experience clerking at all levels of the Federal 
judiciary, as well as her work in private practice and public service, 
have prepared her to serve as a district judge on the U.S. District 
Court for the District of Columbia.
  I am proud to support her nomination.