Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong

Central District of California
	Ninth Circuit
Judgeships
	Posts: 28
	Judges: 25
	Vacancies: 3
Judges
	Chief: Dolly Gee
	Active judges: Fernando Aenlle-Rocha, Mónica Ramírez Almadani, Percy Anderson, Jesus Bernal, André Birotte Jr., Stanley Blumenfeld, David Carter, Michelle Williams Court, Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, Michael Fitzgerald, Sherilyn P. Garnett, Dolly Gee, John William Holcomb, Wesley L. Hsu, Kenly Kiya Kato, Robert Klausner, Fernando Olguin, Mark C. Scarsi, Fred W. Slaughter, Josephine Staton, Sunshine S. Sykes, Hernán D. Vera, John Walter, Stephen Wilson, Otis Wright; Senior judges:; Valerie Baker Fairbank, Dale Fischer, Terry Hatter, Aaron Kampfe, William Duffy Keller, John A. Kronstadt, Ronald Lew, Consuelo Marshall, Virginia Phillips, Dean Pregerson, James Selna, Christina Snyder, George Wu

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong
	Court: United States District Court for the Central District of California
Progress
	Confirmed 88 days after nomination.
	Nominated: September 20, 2021
	ABA Rating: Well Qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: October 20, 2021
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: December 2, 2021
	Confirmed: December 17, 2021
	Vote: 46-24

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Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong is a judge on the United States District Court for the Central District of California. She was nominated by President Joe Biden (D) on September 20, 2021, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 17, 2021, by a vote of 46-24.^[1] To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States District Court for the Central District of California is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Prior to her confirmation, Frimpong was a judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California.

Judicial nominations, appointments, and elections

United States District Court for the Central District of California (2022-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On September 20, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Frimpong to the United States District Court for the Central District of California. She was confirmed by a 46-24 vote of the U.S. Senate on December 17, 2021.^[1]^[2] Frimpong received commission on February 7, 2022.^[3] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Frimpong by a vote of 46-24 on December 17, 2021.^[1] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Frimpong confirmation vote (December 17, 2021)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	43	0	5
Republican	2	24	24
Independent	1	0	1
Total	46	24	30

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Frimpong's nomination on October 20, 2021. The committee voted to advance Frimpong's nomination to the full Senate on December 2, 2021.

Nomination

On September 8, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate Frimpong to the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The president officially nominated Frimpong on September 20.^[1]

Frimpong was nominated to replace Judge Christina Snyder, who assumed senior status in 2016.^[1]

The American Bar Association rated Frimpong Well Qualified.^[4] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Superior Court of Los Angeles County (2016-2022)

See also: Municipal elections in Los Angeles County, California (2018)

Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong (Nonpartisan) won the election without appearing on the ballot.

Selection method

See also: Nonpartisan election

The 1,535 judges of the California Superior Courts compete in nonpartisan races in even-numbered years. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the June primary election, he or she is declared the winner; if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the top two candidates is held during the November general election.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

If an incumbent judge is running unopposed in an election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot. The judge is automatically re-elected following the general election.^[5]

The chief judge of any given superior court is selected by peer vote of the court's members. He or she serves in that capacity for one or two years, depending on the county.^[5]

Qualifications
Candidates are required to have 10 years of experience as a law practitioner or as a judge of a court of record.^[5]

Biography

Education

Frimpong earned an A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 1997 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 2001.^[2]

Professional career

2022-present: Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California
2016-2022: Judge, Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California
2015-2016: Vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary of the Millennium Challenge Corporation
2007-2015: U.S. Department of Justice
2002-2007: Associate, Morrison and Foerster LLP, San Francisco, California
2002-2007: Law clerk to Judge Stephen Reinhardt, United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit^[2]

About the court

The United States District Court for the Central District of California is one of 94 United States district courts. The court serves about seventeen million people in southern and central California, making it the largest federal judicial district by population. The district operates out of courthouses in Santa Ana, Riverside and two locations in Los Angeles. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse. Initial appeals are heard in Pasadena at the Richard Chambers Courthouse.

The Central District of California has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

There are three court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Eastern Division, covering Riverside and San Bernardino counties.^[9]

The Southern Division, covering Orange County.^[9]

The Western Division, covering Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.^[9]

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

External links

Suggest a link

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by: Christina Snyder	Central District of California 2022 – Present Seat #9	Succeeded by: NA

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