Cynthia Ann Bashant (born March 18, 1960) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

for the

United States District Court for the Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

and former judge of the San Diego Superior Court.

Early life and education

Bashant was born in 1960 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1982 from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1986 from the

University of California, Hastings College of Law The University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings) is a public law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, UC Hastings was the first law school of the University of California a ...

.President Obama Nominates Eight to Serve on United States District Courts

White House Office of the Press Secretary The White House Office of the Press Secretary, or the Press Office, is responsible for gathering and disseminating information to three principal groups: the President, the White House staff, and the media. The Office is headed by the White House ...

(September 19, 2013).

Legal career

Bashant began her career in private practice in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, as an associate at MacDonald, Halsted & Laybourne from 1986 to 1988 and then as associate at

Baker & McKenzie Baker McKenzie is an international law firm located in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1949, originally named Baker & McKenzie. It now has 77 offices in 46 countries. It employs 4,809 attorneys total, and approximately 13,000 employees tot ...

from 1988 to 1989, practicing civil litigation at both firms. Bashant served as an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

in the Southern District of California from 1989 to 2000. She served as deputy chief of narcotics from 1995 to 1997 and chief of border crimes from 1997 to 1998. In these positions, Bashant prosecuted crimes involving Mexican drug cartels and methamphetamine labs.

State and federal judicial service

From 2000 until 2014, when she joined the federal bench, Bashant has served as a judge of the

Superior Court of California Superior courts in California are the state trial courts with general jurisdiction to hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard in some other court or before a governmental agency. As mandated by t ...

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

, handling both criminal and juvenile matters. From 2009 to 2012, she was the presiding judge for the juvenile dependency and delinquency courts. On September 19, 2013, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

nominated Bashant to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, to the seat vacated by Judge

Irma Elsa Gonzalez Irma Elsa Gonzalez (born March 29, 1948) is a retired United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, who was the first Mexican-American female federal judge.http://womenslegalhistory.sta ...

, who assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on March 29, 2013. On January 16, 2014 her nomination was reported out of the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...

. On April 11, 2014 Senate Majority Leader Reid filed a motion to invoke

cloture Cloture (, also ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. ...

on the nomination. On April 29, 2014 a vote on the motion to invoke

on the nomination was agreed to by a 56–41 vote. On April 30, 2014 the nomination was confirmed by a 94–0 vote. She received her judicial commission on May 8, 2014.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bashant, Cynthia 1960 births Living people Assistant United States Attorneys California lawyers California state court judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California Smith College alumni Superior court judges in the United States United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama University of California, Hastings College of the Law alumni 21st-century American judges 21st-century American women judges