Sherilyn Peace Garnett testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during her U.S. District Court judge confirmation hearing on Feb. 16, 2022. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

The U.S. Senate has filled another judge vacancy in the Central District of California, giving a lifetime appointment to a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge who is a former federal prosecutor.

Senators voted 62-33 on Wednesday in favor of Sherilyn Peace Garnett. She'll be the third new judge to join the Central District this year, with Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong sworn in Feb. 10 in Los Angeles and Judge Fred Slaughter sworn in April 22 in Santa Ana. 

Sunshine Suzanne Sykes testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during her U.S. District Court judge confirmation hearing on Feb. 1, 2022. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Garnett is filling the seat vacated when the now-late U.S. District Judge Manuel Real took senior status on Nov. 14, 2018. The court has five vacancies remaining on its 28-seat bench after Judge John Kronstadt took senior status on April 1 and Judge Virginia Phillips took senior status on Feb. 14. 

President Joe Biden already has moved to fill the other three vacancies, nominating U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenly Kiya Kato on Dec. 15 along with Sunshine Suzanne Sykes, a Riverside County Superior Court judge since 2013. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Hernan Vera also was renominated on Jan. 4 after his first nomination stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee, but the committee rejected him again 11-11 on Jan. 20.

Sykes likely will be the next Central District nominee voted on by the full Senate after the committee advanced her nomination 12-10 on March 10, the same day Kato's nomination was rejected 11-11 and the same day Garnett was approved 17-5.

Diversity 'on Both Sides'

Garnett answered a few questions during her hearing on Feb. 16, telling Chairman and Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin the judicial system is supposed to be predicated on the ideal that everyone is treated fairly, "and that includes individuals who are suffering from mental illness."

Garnett said she has tried as a judge "to make sure that individuals who elect to go to trial are mentally competent to do so" and also sat on a three-judge appellate panel that issued an opinion that defendants who represent themselves are mentally competent to do so.

"I think it's an important principle in terms of making sure everybody is treated fairly and if I'm fortunate enough to be confirmed, I will continue to abide by that duty," Garnett said.

Sherilyn Peace Garnett testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Born in the Cayman Islands, Garnett earned her law degree from Harvard Law School in 1995 and her bachelor's degree from the University of California at Riverside in 1991. She clerked for U.S. District Judge Barry Moskowitz of the Southern District in San Diego, then was an associate at Arnold & Porter in Los Angeles from 1999 to 2000. She was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Central District from 2001 to 2014, including deputy chief of the general crimes section from 2008 to 2011. She was appointed to the Los Angeles County Superior Court by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2014.

Asked by Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley why she pursued a career as a federal prosecutor, Garnett said she "believes very much in justice and making sure people are treated fairly."

"When I was in law school, I spent a little time as a defense attorney and working with prosecutors across the aisle—I realize that we need diverse and varied experiences on both sides," Garnett said.

In response to a question from California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, Garnett said her clerkship with Moskowitz gave her a chance to observe his patience and see how he listened to litigants to "make sure that they felt that they were heard."

"He mentored and nurtured his law clerks and made us part of the process. He diligently researched the law and applied it fairly and importantly," Garnett said. "He has a wonderful sense of humor and a wonderful temperament, and each day I spend on the bench I try to emulate the wonderful qualities that he has."

In addition to Frimpong, the Los Angeles courthouse has another new face: U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton, who moved her chambers there from Santa Ana in March. That left the Southern Division courthouse with only three judges until Slaughter was sworn in April 22, but U.S. District Judge John Holcomb is scheduled to move his chambers there from Riverside if Sykes is confirmed, and Sykes will be in Riverside, according to Central District Chief Judge Phillip Gutierrez.

New Southern District Judge

In addition to the three Central District confirmations, five other Biden-nominated judges have been confirmed since December, most recently U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruth Bermudez Montenegro in the Southern District in San Diego.

Ruth Bermudez Montenegro testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during her U.S. District Court judge confirmation hearing on Dec. 15, 2021. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Motenegro was confirmed 55-41 on March 22. She has a bachelor's degree from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from the UCLA School of Law, and she was the first Latina to serve as an Imperial County Superior Court judge.

The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Montenegro is the second Latina confirmed to the Southern District under Biden, with Linda Lopez confirmed in December. Lopez, a magistrate judge since 2018, was confirmed the same day as Jinsook Ohta, a San Diego County Superior Court judge.

The Southern District has three open seats remaining and one nominee still pending, Robert Huie, a Jones Day of counsel who was nominated on Jan. 19. The committee advanced Huie's nomination 11-10 on April 4.

Meanwhile, the Northern District also has three open seats and one nominee pending, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Trina Thompson, who passed the committee 12-10 on March 10. The full Senate confirmed Jacqueline Scott Corley, a U.S. magistrate judge, to the Northern District bench in March.

The Eastern District has two open seats and one pending nominee, Ana Isabel de Alba, a Fresno County Superior Court judge who had her committee hearing Thursday. The Senate confirmed Jennifer Thurston, a U.S. magistrate judge, in December.