Sandy Nunes Leal (born 1972) is an American lawyer and judge. She is a California

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

who is a former nominee to be 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 ...

of the

United States District Court for the Central District of California The United States District Court for the Central District of California (in case citations, C.D. Cal.; commonly referred to as the CDCA or CACD) is a Federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in Southern and Central California, m ...

Early life and education

She was born in 1972 in Longview,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. Leal earned her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

and her

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 ...

from

Boston College Law School Boston College Law School (BC Law) is the law school of Boston College. It is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about 1.5 miles from the university's main campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. With approximately 800 studen ...

."President Donald J. Trump Announces Judicial Nominees and United States Marshal Nominee" White House, August 28, 2019

Legal career

In 1997 she was a summer

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...

for Massachusetts District Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler. In 1998 she was a summer law clerk in the Office of the Attorney General of Washington. Before joining the United States Attorney's Office, Leal was an Assistant District Counsel in the Department of Justice

Immigration and Naturalization Service The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1933 to 1940 and the U.S. Department of Justice from 1940 to 2003. Referred to by some as former INS and by others as legacy INS, ...

, where she was in the Attorney General's Honors Program. She was a Deputy Chief in the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, where she served as an Assistant United States Attorney from 2004 to 2018.

State court service

Since 2018, she has been a

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

on the

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

to mixed reviews.

Expired nomination to district court

On August 28, 2019,

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

announced his intent to nominate Leal to serve as a

for the

. On October 17, 2019, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Leal to the seat vacated by Judge

Christina A. Snyder Christina Ann Snyder (born May 27, 1947) is a United States federal judge, senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Early life and education Snyder was born on May 27, 1947 ...

, who took

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 November 23, 2016. On January 3, 2020, her nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of 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 ...

. On February 13, 2020, her renomination was sent to the Senate. On January 3, 2021, her nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the

References

External links

*
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees
1972 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Assistant United States Attorneys Boston College Law School alumni California lawyers California state court judges People from Longview, Washington Superior court judges in the United States United States Department of Justice lawyers University of Washington alumni 20th-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American women judges {{US-state-judge-stub