Richard Edward Neel Federico (born 1977) is an American lawyer from

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

who is serving as a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Colorado * District of Kansas * Distr ...

Education

Federico received a

Bachelor of Journalism The Bachelor of Journalism (B.J.) degree is a degree awarded at some universities to students who have studied journalism in a three or four year undergraduate program. In the United States, some schools that do not award the B.J. degree instead c ...

from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

in 1999 and a Juris Doctor from the

University of Kansas School of Law The University of Kansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Kansas, a public research university in Lawrence, Kansas. The University of Kansas Law School was founded in 1893, replacing the earlier Department of Law, which had e ...

in 2002, and a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

, with highest distinction, from

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

in 2012.

Career

Since 2002, Federico had served in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps as a prosecutor and as a defense counsel from 2008 to 2015. From 2015 to 2017, he was an assistant federal public defender for the District of Oregon in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. He has been a military judge for the Navy Reserve Trial Judiciary since 2019, and he served as an Appellate Defense Counsel from 2015 to 2019. In 2017, Federico joined the Federal Public Defender for the District of Kansas in

Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Uni ...

, where he served as a research and writing specialist from 2017 to 2018, an assistant federal public defender from 2018 to 2020 and as the senior litigator since 2020. From 2002 to 2015, he served in

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, the equivalent term is active service. India The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be o ...

and was subsequently

honorably discharged A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and th ...

. Since 2015, he has served in the Selective Reserves.

Federal judicial service

On July 27, 2023, President Joe Biden nominated Federico to serve as a

of the

. President Biden nominated Federico to the seat vacated by Judge

Mary Beck Briscoe Mary Kathryn Beck Briscoe (born April 4, 1947) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Early life and education Briscoe was born in Council Grove, Kansas, and grew up on a farm ne ...

, who assumed

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

on March 15, 2021. On September 6, 2023, a hearing on his nomination was held before 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 ...

. During his confirmation hearing, he received push back from Senators

Josh Hawley Joshua David Hawley (born December 31, 1979) is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the junior United States senator from Missouri since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Hawley served as the 42nd attorney general of Mi ...

and

Marsha Blackburn Mary Marsha Blackburn (née Wedgeworth; born June 6, 1952) is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the senior United States senator from Tennessee, a seat she has held since 2019. She is a member of the Republican Party. Blackbur ...

over a client who he had represented as a public defender in 2018. The client pled guilty to distributing child pornography and Federico made a sentencing recommendation that was eight years below the federal sentencing guidelines for the charge. In response, Federico pointed out that as a public defender, it was his "professional responsibility to vigorously defend his client", who he did not choose. On September 28, 2023, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 13–8 vote. On December 7, 2023, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

invoked cloture on his nomination by a 63–32 vote. On December 11, 2023, his nomination was confirmed by a 61–29 vote. He received his judicial commission on December 13, 2023.

References

External links

* 1977 births Living people 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers Georgetown University Law Center alumni American prosecutors Indiana University alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Kansas lawyers People from Richmond, Indiana Public defenders United States court of appeals judges appointed by Joe Biden United States Navy reservists University of Kansas School of Law alumni {{US-federal-judge-stub