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Tiffany Cartwright
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 18, 2023
Appointed byJoe Biden
Preceded byBenjamin Settle
Personal details
Born1985 (age 38–39)
Lansing, Michigan, U.S.
EducationStanford University (BA, JD)

Tiffany Mae Cartwright (born 1985)[1] is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.[2]

Early life and education

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Cartwright was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Kitsap County.[3] She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University in 2007, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 2010, where she was a member of the Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic.[4][1] She was co-editor in chief of Stanford Law & Policy Review in 2009 and 2010.[1] During law school, Cartwright worked at the federal public defender office in Seattle and at the United States Department of Justice Public Integrity Unit.[3] She also worked as a research assistant for Michael W. McConnell.[1]

Career

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From 2010 to 2012, Cartwright served as a law clerk for Judge Dana Fabe of the Alaska Supreme Court and for Betty Binns Fletcher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.[5][6] From 2012 to 2014, she was an associate at Jenner & Block in Chicago.[1][7] In 2014, she joined the law firm MacDonald Hoague & Bayless in Seattle, became a partner in 2018 until she was commissioned as a federal judge.[8][9]

Notable cases

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In 2017, Cartwright represented the family of Leonard Thomas in connection with claims that he had been wrongfully killed by the Lakewood police department. Following trial, a jury sided with Thomas and awarded Thomas's family $15 million in damages.[10][11][12][13]

In 2020, Cartwright represented the family of 17 year-old MiChance Dunlap-Gittens, who was killed by King County police in a case of mistaken identity, and won a $2.25 million settlement.[14][15][3]

In 2021, Cartwright served as pro bono Washington state counsel for the Campaign Legal Center in Aguilar v. Yakima County, a case litigated under the Washington Voting Rights Act.[16]

Cartwright represented several exonerees: a group of men in Fairbanks, Alaska, known as The Fairbanks Four, who spent seventeen years in prison before their exoneration for murder in 2015;[3] Paul Browning, a capital defendant, obtaining his release in 2019 after 33 years on Nevada's death row; and Rodney Wheeler, who was wrongfully accused of homicide and received a $500,000 settlement from King County in 2021.[17]

Federal judicial service

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On January 19, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Cartwright to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.[18] The nomination came as part of the Biden administration's larger push to nominate judges with diverse backgrounds and identities.[18][19] President Biden nominated Cartwright to the seat vacated by Judge Benjamin Settle, who assumed senior status on January 1, 2020.[20] At the time she was nominated she was President Biden's youngest judicial nominee, but between her initial nomination and confirmation she was surpassed by Brad Garcia (D.C. Cir.) and Jamar K. Walker (E.D. Va.).[21]

On May 25, 2022, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[22] On June 16, 2022, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote.[23] In addition to all Democrats on the committee, Cartwright received the support of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.[24] On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the Senate; she was renominated later the same day.[25] On February 2, 2023, her nomination was reported out of the committee by an 11–9 vote.[26] On July 11, 2023, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 49–42 vote.[27] On July 12, 2023, her nomination was confirmed by a 50–47 vote.[28][29] She received her judicial commission on July 18, 2023.[30] She was sworn in on August 30, 2023.[31]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "QUESTIONNAIRE FOR JUDICIAL NOMINEES" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. January 19, 2022.
  2. ^ Warren, Bradley (January 19, 2022). "President Biden nominates Tiffany Cartwright to serve as US District Court judge for Western District of Washington". KHQ Right Now.
  3. ^ a b c d "Tiffany M. Cartwright Fact Sheet". Alliance for Justice.
  4. ^ Warren, Bradley (January 19, 2022). "President Biden nominates Tiffany Cartwright to serve as US District Court judge for Western District of Washington". KHQ Right Now. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  5. ^ "Tiffany M. Cartwright | MacDonald Hoague & Bayless, Seattle Civil Rights and Immigration Attorneys". www.mhb.com. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  6. ^ "Lawyer Tiffany Mae Cartwright - Seattle, Washington | Got.Law".
  7. ^ Arkin, James (May 25, 2022). "1st, 2nd Circ. Noms Face Few Questions From Judiciary Panel". Law360.
  8. ^ "President Biden Names Thirteenth Round of Judicial Nominees". The White House. January 19, 2022. Retrieved January 19, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. ^ "President Biden nominates Tiffany Cartwright to serve as US District Court judge for Western District of Washington | FOX 28 Spokane". January 19, 2022. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  10. ^ "$15M awarded to family of unarmed black man killed by sniper". AP NEWS. July 15, 2017.
  11. ^ Fowler, Lilly. "After $15 million verdict, a Q&A about police shootings | Crosscut". crosscut.com. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  12. ^ Carter, Mike (July 14, 2017). "Jury awards more than $15M to family of unarmed black man killed by SWAT sniper in Fife". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  13. ^ Moreno, Joel (July 14, 2017). "A son remembers a dad hours after jury awards $15M in his police-shooting death". KOMO. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  14. ^ Hiruko, Ashley; Aegerter, Gil (May 4, 2020). "King County, family of teen killed during botched sting operation reach $2.25 million settlement". kuow.org.
  15. ^ "Deadly sting, wrong target: How the death of a cop's son led King County deputies to kill a Des Moines teen". The Seattle Times. April 28, 2019.
  16. ^ Smith, Kate (October 29, 2021). "Judge OKs new map, rules in Yakima County voting rights settlement". Yakima Herald-Republic. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  17. ^ "King County pays $500,000 to man acquitted of murder charge". AP NEWS. April 23, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  18. ^ a b Harrison, Joey (January 19, 2022). "Biden nominates Muslim woman to the federal bench, a first in US history as he diversifies the judiciary". USA Today. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  19. ^ Brown, Matthew (March 30, 2021). "Biden judicial nominees represent diverse professional backgrounds, identities". USA Today. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  20. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 19, 2022.
  21. ^ Bendery, Jennifer (July 12, 2023). "Senate Confirms 38-Year-Old Civil Rights Attorney To Be A Federal Judge". HuffPost. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  22. ^ "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. May 23, 2022.
  23. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – June 16, 2022" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  24. ^ Raymond, Nate (June 16, 2022). "U.S. Senate panel advances public defender vets up for judgeships". Reuters. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  25. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 3, 2023.
  26. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – February 2, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  27. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Tiffany M. Cartwright to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Washington)". United States Senate. July 11, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  28. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Tiffany M. Cartwright, of Washington, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Washington)". United States Senate. July 12, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  29. ^ Headley, Tiana. "Senate Confirms One of Judiciary's Youngest Trial Court Judges". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  30. ^ Tiffany Cartwright at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  31. ^ "Welcome to District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright" (PDF). wawd.uscourts.gov (Press release). Retrieved September 27, 2023.
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Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
2023–present 		Incumbent
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