The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Richard E.N. Federico to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit based in Denver, adding a second public defender to the circuit court (article available here).
He is President Joe Biden's second appointee to the court, following Judge Veronica S. Rossman of Colorado — the only former public defender currently serving on the Tenth Circuit.
Federico comes to the bench with an unusual resume of litigating high-profile criminal cases as a federal public defender and serving as a prosecutor, defense attorney and judge in the military justice system (previous coverage available here).
In 2015, Federico started work as a federal public defender in Oregon, then transferred to the Kansas office in 2017.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit hears federal cases arising from Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming. Federico's confirmation restores the court's membership to its full roster of 12 active judges for the first time in over two years.