President Joe Biden on Friday picked a longtime federal magistrate in Dallas for the influential United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (article available here).
U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma Carrillo Ramirez would be the first Latina on the court, which handles federal appeals from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
She has been a magistrate judge in the Northern District of Texas since 2002, and was previously an assistant U.S. attorney in the district. Then-President Barack Obama nominated her to a vacancy in the Northern District of Texas in 2016, but the Senate did not ultimately vote on her nomination.
The president also nominated U.S. District Judge Ana de Alba to the Ninth Circuit. Judge de Alba would be fourth Hispanic woman on the Ninth Circuit. Biden previously nominated Judge de Alba to the Eastern District of California last year, and she was confirmed in June with bipartisan support. Prior to her confirmation, she had been a judge on the Superior Court of California in Fresno County.