Trina Lynn Thompson (born June 3, 1961) is American judge who serves as a
United States district judge of the
. She previously served as a state court judge of the
Alameda County Superior Court
The Alameda County Superior Court, officially the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Alameda County as established by Article VI of the Constitution of California. It functions ...
.
Education
Thompson received her
Bachelor of Arts from the
University of California, Berkeley in 1983 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 the
UC Berkeley School of Law in 1986.
[ ]
Career
From 1986 to 1991, Thompson served as a
law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...
and later as a
deputy public defender in the Alameda County Public Defender's Office. From 1991 to 2000, she served as a criminal defense attorney at her own law firm, The Law Offices of Trina Thompson-Stanley. From 2000 to 2002, she was a Juvenile Court Commissioner in Alameda County Superior Court.
In 2002, she was elected as a judge on the Alameda County Superior Court in
Oakland, California; she was the first
African-American woman elected to the court. She was sworn-in in January 2003. In 2011, President
Barack Obama appointed Thompson to serve on the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. From 2014 to 2021, she was a lecturer at the
University of California, Berkeley and since 2018 she has been an
adjunct professor
An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and
the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...
at the
UC Berkeley School of Law.
Federal judicial service
On November 3, 2021, President
Joe Biden nominated Thompson to serve as a
United States district judge of the
. President Biden nominated Thompson to the seat vacated by Judge
Phyllis J. Hamilton
Phyllis Jean Hamilton (born 1952) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Education and career
Born in Jacksonville, Illinois, Hamilton received a Bachelor of Ar ...
, who assumed
senior status on February 1, 2021.
[ ] On January 3, 2022, her nomination was returned to the President under
Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the
United States Senate; she was later renominated the same day. On February 16, 2022, a hearing on her nomination was held before the
Senate Judiciary Committee. On March 10, 2022, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. On May 17, 2022, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 51–46 vote. On May 18, 2022, her nomination was confirmed by a 51–44 vote. She received her judicial commission on August 5, 2022.
See also
*
List of African-American federal judges
*
List of African-American jurists
References
External links
*
1961 births
Living people
20th-century American lawyers
20th-century American women lawyers
21st-century American judges
21st-century American women judges
African-American judges
African-American lawyers
California state court judges
Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Lawyers from Oakland, California
Public defenders
Superior court judges in the United States
UC Berkeley School of Law alumni
UC Berkeley School of Law faculty
United States district court judges appointed by Joe Biden
University of California, Berkeley alumni
University of California, Berkeley faculty
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