Confirmation of Daniel Calabretta

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, the Senate voted on the nomination of Judge Daniel Calabretta, who has been nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. Born in Union City, TN, Judge Calabretta received his bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, from Princeton University, and his J.D, magna cum laude, from the University of Chicago.

After clerking for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and working in private practice for 3 years, Judge Calabretta spent the majority of his legal career--15 years in public service in California. As the Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary for California Governor Jerry Brown, Judge Calabretta advised officials on executive orders following emergency declarations. He then went on to work for the California Department of Justice, where he defended the Attorney General and other State officials in litigation on a variety of matters in Federal and State court. In 2019, Judge Calabretta was appointed to the California Superior Court as a Juvenile Court judge, where he has presided over approximately 200 bench trials.

The American Bar Association rated Judge Calabretta as unanimously ``well qualified,'' and he has the strong support of Senators Feinstein and Padilla.

In addition to his qualifications and deep ties to the California legal community, Judge Calabretta will be the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve on U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

I thank my colleagues for confirming him.

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