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Rebecca L. Pennell

Rebecca L. Pennell
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 9, 2024
Appointed byJoe Biden
Preceded bySalvador Mendoza Jr.
Judge of the Washington Court of Appeals
In office
January 19, 2016 – December 9, 2024
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 serves as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. She served as a judge of the Washington Court of Appeals from 2016 to 2024.

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] She served in that capacity until 2024, when she became a federal judge.

Federal judicial service

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 reported out of committee by an 11–10 party-line vote.[8] On November 19, 2024, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 50–42 vote.[9] The following day, her nomination was confirmed by a 50–48 vote, with Senator Joe Manchin voting against confirmation.[10] She received her judicial commission on Decemeber 9, 2024,[11] was sworn in on the same day.[12]

Personal life

Pennell lives in Yakima with her husband and daughter.[13]

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. ^ Rebecca L. Pennell at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  12. ^ "President Biden Appoints Judge Rebecca L. Pennell to the Eastern District of Washington". waed.uscourts.gov (Press release). Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  13. ^ "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
2024–present 		Incumbent
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