Press Release - President Biden Names Twenty-First Round of Judicial Nominees

The President is announcing five new federal judicial nominees, all of whom are extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution.

These choices also continue to fulfill the President’s promise to ensure that the nation’s courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country — both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds.

For example, if confirmed, this slate would include:

• The first Asian American judge to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• The first Asian American and second Latina judge to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

This is President Biden’s twenty-first round of nominees for federal judicial positions and his eighth slate of nominations in 2022, bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 112.President Biden has spent decades committed to strengthening the federal bench, which is why he continues to move rapidly to fill judicial vacancies. And he has won confirmation of the most lower court judges for the first year of a presidency since the Kennedy Administration.

Circuit Court Press Bio

1. Cindy K. Chung: Candidate for the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Cindy K. Chung has served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania since 2021. Ms. Chung served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania from 2014 to 2021. From 2009 to 2014, Ms. Chung served as a trial attorney in the Criminal Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. From 2003 to 2009, she served as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office. Ms. Chung served as a law clerk for Judge Myron Thompson on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama from 2002 to 2003. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2002 and her B.A. from Yale University in 1997.

District Court Press Bios

1. Kelley B. Hodge: Candidate for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Kelley B. Hodge is a partner at Fox Rothschild in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she has worked since 2020. Ms. Hodge was previously Of Counsel at Elliott Greenleaf in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania from 2016 to 2017 and 2018 to 2020. Ms. Hodge was the interim District Attorney for the City of Philadelphia from 2017 to 2018. From 2015 to 2016, she was the Title IX Coordinator and Executive Assistant to the President at the University of Virginia. From 2011 to 2015, she served as the Safe Schools Advocate under the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. From 2004 to 2011, she worked in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. Ms. Hodge was a public defender in the Richmond, Virginia Public Defender’s Office from 1997 to 2003. Ms. Hodge received her J.D. from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1996 and B.A. from the University of Virginia in 1993.

2. John Frank Murphy: Candidate for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

John Frank Murphy is a partner at Baker & Hostetler in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where has worked since 2007. Mr. Murphy has also been an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers Law School since 2014. Mr. Murphy served as a law clerk for Chief Judge Kimberly A. Moore on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from 2008 to 2009. Mr. Murphy received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2007, his M.S. and Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 2002 and 2004, and his B.S., summa cum laude, from Cornell University in 1999.

3. Judge Mia Perez: Candidate for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Judge Mia Roberts Perez has served as a judge on the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas since her election in 2016. Judge Perez was previously in private practice at her own firm, Perez Law, from 2011 to 2016. From 2010 to 2011, Judge Perez was an associate at Friedman Schuman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was an Assistant Defender at the Defender Association of Philadelphia from 2006 to 2010. Judge Perez received her J.D. from Temple University, Beasley School of Law in 2006 and her B.A. from Tufts University in 2003.

4. Judge Kai Scott: Candidate for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Judge Kai Scott has served as a judge on the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas since her election in 2015. Prior to joining the bench, Judge Scott was the Trial Unit Chief for the Federal Community Defender Office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 2010 to 2015. Judge Scott was an Assistant Federal Defender from 2004 to 2010. From 1998 to 2004, Judge Scott was a Trial Attorney with the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Judge Scott served as a law clerk for Judge Donald Poorman of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers Compensation from 1996 to 1998. Judge Scott received her J.D. from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1995 and her B.A. from Hampton University in 1991.