Rebecca L. Pennell

Rebecca L. Pennell
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
Designate
Assuming office
TBD
Appointed byJoe Biden
SucceedingSalvador Mendoza Jr.
Judge of the Washington Court of Appeals
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 19, 2016
Appointed byJay Inslee
Preceded byStephen Brown
Personal details
Born
Rebecca Louise Pennell

1971 (age 52–53)
Boulder, Colorado, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Washington (BA)
Stanford University (JD)

Rebecca Louise Pennell (born 1971)[1] is an American lawyer who is the designate to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. She has served as a judge of the Washington Court of Appeals since 2016.

Early life

Pennell grew up in Richland, Washington, where her father worked at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and her mother was a math teacher at Columbia Basin College.[2]

Education

Pennell earned a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from the University of Washington in 1993 and a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1996.[3]

Career

From 1997 to 1999, she served as a law clerk for Judge Robert H. Whaley of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. From 1999 to 2000, she was a Skadden Fellow at TeamChild, an organization that provides legal services to youths in Yakima, Washington. From 2000 to 2016, she was a public defender with the Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington and Idaho.[3] In January 2016, Governor Jay Inslee appointed her as a judge of the Washington Court of Appeals to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of acting chief judge Stephen Brown.[4] She had a formal investiture ceremony on February 19, 2016.[5]

Nomination to federal district court

On March 20, 2024, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Pennell to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.[3] On March 21, 2024, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Pennell to the seat vacated by Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr., who was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on September 16, 2022.[6] On April 17, 2024, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[7] On May 9, 2024, her nomination was favorably reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by an 11–10 party-line vote.[8] On November 19, 2024, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 50–42 vote.[9] The following day, her nomination was confirmed by a 50–48 vote.[10] She is awaiting her judicial commission.

Personal life

Pennell lives in Yakima with her husband and daughter.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  2. ^ "Judge Rebecca L. Pennell". www.courts.wa.gov. Archived from the original on April 21, 2024. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "President Biden Names Forty-Seventh Round of Judicial Nominees and Announces One New Nominee to Serve as U.S. Marshal" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. March 20, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ "Former Richland resident, trial attorney appointed new appeals judge". Tri-City Herald. January 2, 2016. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  5. ^ Meyers, Donald W. (February 19, 2016). "Ceremonial beginning: Rebecca Pennell takes oath as State Court of Appeals' newest judge". Yakima Herald-Republic. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  6. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. March 21, 2024.
  7. ^ "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. April 16, 2024.
  8. ^ "Senate Judiciary Committee Advances the Protecting Older Americans Act, Four Judicial Nominations to the Full Senate" (Press release). United States Senate Judiciary Committee. May 9, 2024. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  9. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Rebecca L. Pennell to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington)". United States Senate. November 19, 2024. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  10. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Rebecca L. Pennell, of Washington, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Washington)". United States Senate. November 20, 2024. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  11. ^ "Washington State Courts - Members of the Court of Appeals Div III Bio - Judge Robert Lawrence-Berrey". www.courts.wa.gov. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
Taking office 2024 		Designate