President Joe Biden unveiled his fourth slate of judicial nominations Tuesday, which includes Myrna Pérez, a voting rights lawyer nominated to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and four district court picks for Connecticut and Washington, D.C., including three former public defenders according to a White House press release. )
The Second Circuit nominee is Myrna Pérez, director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Voting Rights and Elections Program. If Pérez is confirmed, she would be the only Latina currently serving on the Second Circuit.
• Jia M. Cobb to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She is a partner and litigator at civil rights firm Relman Colfax and a former trial attorney for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. If confirmed, she would be the second Black female attorney who is actively serving on the D.C. district court.
• Sarala Vidya Nagala to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. She is the deputy chief of the major crimes unit at the U.S. attorney’s office in Connecticut. If confirmed, she would be the first judge of South Asian descent to serve on the Connecticut district court.
• Sarah A.L. Merriam to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. She is currently a federal magistrate judge and formerly an assistant federal public defender.
• Omar A. Williams to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Williams is a superior court judge in Connecticut who was formerly a state assistant public defender.