President Obama Nominates Two to the United States District Courts

Press Release

Today, President Obama nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson and Judge Nelson Stephen Román for District Court judgeships.

"I am pleased to nominate these distinguished individuals to serve on the United States District Court bench," said President Obama. "I am confident they will serve the American people with integrity and a steadfast commitment to justice."

Ketanji Brown Jackson: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia
Ketanji Brown Jackson currently serves as Vice Chair and Commissioner of the United States Sentencing Commission, a position she has held since 2010. Previously, Jackson worked at Morrison & Foerster LLP from 2007 to 2010 and served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender in the District of Columbia from 2005 to 2007. From 2003 to 2005, she was an Assistant Special Counsel at the Sentencing Commission and, prior to that, spent four years working in private practice in both Boston and the District of Columbia. From 1999 to 2000, she clerked for Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer of the Supreme Court of the United States; from 1997 to 1998, she clerked for the Honorable Bruce M. Selya of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; and from 1996 to 1997, she clerked for the Honorable Patti B. Saris of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Jackson received her J.D. cum laude in 1996 from Harvard Law School, where she was supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review. She received her B.A. magna cum laude in 1992 from Harvard University.

Judge Nelson Stephen Román: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Judge Nelson Stephen Román has been an Associate Justice of the First Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court since 2009. Previously, he served as a Justice of the New York Supreme Court in Bronx County, where he handled civil matters from 2003 to 2009. For four years, Judge Román was a judge on the New York City Civil Court, handling civil matter from 2001 to 2002 and housing cases from 1998 to 2000. He clerked for the Honorable Jose A. Padilla, Jr. of the New York City Civil Court from 1995 to 1998. From 1989 to 1995, Judge Román served as an Assistant District Attorney in both Brooklyn and Manhattan. Prior to receiving his J.D. in 1989 from Brooklyn Law School, Judge Román worked as a police officer in New York City for seven years. He received his B.A. from Fordham University in 1984.

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