With today’s vote, Senator Murray has secured the confirmation of 9 federal judges in Washington since Biden took office in 2021—all of whom were recommended by Senator Murray
***VIDEO of Senator Murray’s Floor Speech is HERE***
*Photo of Senator Murray and Tiffany Cartwright HERE. Photo of Senator Murray and Kymberly Evanson HERE*
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured the confirmation of two judicial nominees—Tiffany Cartwright and Kymberly Evanson—to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Biden nominated both women in 2022 at Senator Murray’s recommendation. Their confirmations mean that Senator Murray has now filled every vacancy in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration. In total, Murray has secured the votes to confirm nine federal judges from Washington state to a lifetime appointment since Biden took office. The Senate confirmed Tiffany Cartwright by a bipartisan vote of 50-47 today and Kymberly Evanson by a bipartisan vote of 50-42 last night.
“These are two incredibly well-qualified nominees—with records which show they have an expert understanding of our laws, a passion for justice and fairness for everyone, and an appreciation for how their decisions will affect the lives of people across Washington state,” Senator Murray said on the Senate Floor.
Tiffany M. Cartwright is a partner at the Seattle law firm of MacDonald, Hoague & Bayless, a leading civil rights firm in the Pacific Northwest she joined in 2014. Ms. Cartwright graduated from Stanford University and Stanford Law, where she was a member of the Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, gaining a wide range of appellate experience writing petitions for review, merits briefs and amicus briefs filed in the United States Supreme Court. Cartwright clerked on both the Alaska Supreme Court for Justice Dana Fabe, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for Justice Betty B. Fletcher. She long been committed to protecting those from marginalized communities, from working on cases involving police misconduct to gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace. Cartwright has tried cases in state and federal court, argued twice before the Washington Supreme Court, and served as lead counsel in numerous state and federal employment and civil rights matters. Ms. Cartwright has had extensive federal practice experience over the course of her career at MacDonald, Hoague & Bayless, and prior to that, with the law firm Jenner & Block.
A native of Washington state, Ms. Cartwright grew up in Kitsap County and now lives in Seattle with her family. She received her law degree from Stanford University. In addition to her legal work, she advocates for women’s rights by serving on the Board of Directors for Legal Voice, works to improve civil practice in the Western District of Washington by serving on the Local Rules Committee of the WDWA Federal Bar Association, and writes pro bono amicus briefs on behalf of the Washington Employment Lawyers Association and Legal Voice. Cartwright will be the first woman to serve as a federal district court judge from the Tacoma courthouse.
“As a trial lawyer in Seattle, Ms. Cartwright has established herself as a pre-eminent civil rights attorney, dedicated to ensuring our laws are faithfully executed on behalf of the people they are meant to defend,” Murray said on the Senate floor. “Ms. Cartwright is a tested and proven civil rights attorney with extensive federal court experience, and a track record of seeking justice for people who have faced discrimination, police misconduct, and more. Importantly, she is someone who will apply the law fairly and impartially. And she will make an excellent addition to the bench in Washington state.”
Kymberly Evanson is a partner at Pacifica Law Group, where she represents state, municipal, private, and non-profit clients on matters involving the First Amendment, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and a range of other constitutional, municipal, elections, and administrative matters. Prior to joining Pacifica in 2011, Evanson was an associate at K&L Gates in Seattle. She has also represented various governmental entities across Washington state, including King County, Seattle-King County Public Health, the City of Seattle, and the State of Washington. She has also done significant pro bono work with a particular focus in recent years on clemency cases, including lending her time and services to the Seattle Clemency Project and the Western District of Washington’s federal civil rights legal clinic. Ms. Evanson was raised by two Washington state public school teachers. After graduating from law school at Georgetown, she clerked for Judge Emmet Sullivan on the District Court for the District of Columbia before returning home to Washington state.
“Ms. Evanson has shown she has the expertise to work through the most complicated legal matters, and the compassion to understand the stakes of these matters for people’s everyday lives. All of which will serve her—and the people of Washington state—well on the bench of the Western District,” Murray said.
Murray urged her colleagues—Democrat and Republican—to vote for both highly-qualified nominees, noting that both women received bipartisan support in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“The people of Washington state deserve a court system that delivers justice for everyone, not just the powerful and well-connected. They deserve judges who will carefully review each case on the merits and show respect for the law and everyone that appears before them. Based on their records of service in my state, I believe those are exactly the kind of judges Ms. Cartwright and Ms. Evanson will be. These appointments are well deserved, and confirmation is well overdue,” Murray said. “So, I urge all my colleagues to join me in voting for these highly qualified nominees. I was pleased to see that both of them received bipartisan support in the Judiciary Committee, and I hope to see that continue here on the Senate Floor.”
Senator Murray has been a strong advocate for the confirmation of highly qualified judicial nominees who reflect the diversity of communities in Washington state and America, pushing for greater professional diversity on the federal bench in particular. In addition to the confirmation of Cartwright and Evanson, Senator Murray has secured the lifetime appointments of six other highly qualified candidates as federal district court judges in Washington state and one nominee to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals since the start of the Biden-Harris administration. She successfully secured the confirmations of Jamal Whitehead, the first disabled Biden Administration nominee confirmed to the federal bench; Tana Lin, Washington state’s first-ever Asian American federal judge and a former public defender and civil rights lawyer; Lauren King, a Tribal law expert who is serving as Washington state’s first-ever Native American federal judge; John Chun, who is the first Asian American man to serve as a federal judge in Washington state; David Estudillo, the son of Mexican immigrants and a former immigration attorney; and Kit Dimke, who is serving in the Eastern District of Washington. Senator Murray also secured the lifetime appointment of Salvador Mendoza Jr. to serve on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals—Judge Mendoza is the son of Mexican immigrants who worked as farm laborers, maids, and factory workers, and as a child, he worked as a farmworker himself. He is the first Latino from Washington state to serve on the Ninth Circuit Bench.
Senator Murray’s full remarks as delivered:
“Mr. President, I come to the floor today to urge my colleagues to confirm two excellent judicial nominees to the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Tiffany Cartwright—who President Biden first nominated well over a year ago—and Kymberly Evanson, also nominated last year.
“I’m proud to say I recommended both of these women after they were vetted and endorsed by a nonpartisan judicial merit selection committee made up of Democratic and Republican legal experts. In fact, since 2021, the Senate has confirmed five judges to the Western District, each of whom were strongly supported by this same committee.
“And with Ms. Cartwright and Ms. Evanson—it is clear to me they have done it again.
“These are two incredibly well-qualified nominees—with records which show they have an expert understanding of our laws, a passion for justice and fairness for everyone, and an appreciation for how their decisions will affect the lives of people across Washington state.
“Tiffany Cartwright grew up in Kitsap County in Washington and received her law degree from Stanford University. She has clerked on both the Alaska Supreme Court for Justice Dana Fabe, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for Justice Betty B. Fletcher —and today, she is a partner at a leading civil rights firm in the Pacific Northwest.
“As a trial lawyer in Seattle, Ms. Cartwright has established herself as a pre-eminent civil rights attorney, dedicated to ensuring our laws are faithfully executed on behalf of the people they are meant to defend.
“She has represented employees who faced discrimination in the workplace, farmworkers who were denied the overtime they’d earned, voters seeking to ensure their vote was counted, and the families of victims of police misconduct.
“She has argued cases in state and federal court—including before the Washington Supreme Court.
“And also has earned the support of law enforcement officers including a Washington state corrections officer, and an ATF special agent, both of whom spoke to her dedication to their cases and her commitment to justice.
“For six years, Ms. Cartwright also served on the local rules committee of the Federal Bar Association for the Western District of Washington, offering her unique expertise to consider some of the region’s thorniest legal issues. She also served on the Board of Directors for Legal Voice—an organization that’s focused on women’s rights.
“Ms. Cartwright is a tested and proven civil rights attorney with extensive federal court experience, and a track record of seeking justice for people who have faced discrimination, police misconduct, and more.
“Importantly, she is someone who will apply the law fairly and impartially. And she will make an excellent addition to the bench in Washington state.
“As will Kymberly Evanson. Ms. Evanson was raised by two Washington state public school teachers and has dedicated her career to serving the state. After attending law school in Georgetown, and clerking for Judge Emmett Sullivan on the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, she returned home to Washington state where she has practiced law for many years with distinction.
“Throughout her career, Ms. Evanson has earned the respect of her peers and her opposing counsel through her work on cases of public importance.
“As a partner at Pacifica Law Group, she has represented state, municipal, private, and non-profit clients, on a range of complicated legal issues.
“In her work in Seattle, she regularly advises clients on constitutional and statutory questions around the First Amendment, complaints under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and more.
“Not to mention her pro bono work! She has lent her time, services, and expertise to the Seattle Clemency Project and the Western District of Washington’s federal civil rights legal clinic to provide legal counsel in cases involving access to justice, employment discrimination, housing discrimination, and more. The ABA has rated her as well qualified—and it’s easy to see why.
“She has shown she has the expertise to work through the most complicated legal matters, and the compassion to understand the stakes of these matters for people’s everyday lives.
“All of which will serve her—and the people of Washington state—well on the bench of the Western District.
“Mr. President, the people of Washington state deserve a court system that delivers justice for everyone, not just the powerful and well-connected.
“They deserve judges who will carefully review each case on the merits and show respect for the law and everyone that appears before them.
“Based on their records of service in my state, I believe those are exactly the kind of judges that Ms. Cartwright and Ms. Evanson will be.
“These appointments are well deserved, and confirmation is well overdue.
“So, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting for these highly qualified nominees. I was pleased to see that both of them received bipartisan support in the Judiciary Committee. I hope to see that continue here on the Senate floor.”
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