{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://norton.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/all-ten-of-norton-s-judicial-recommendations-confirmed-by-senate", "All Ten of Nortons Judicial Recommendations Confirmed by Senate", "2014-12-17", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "DC", "Eleanor Norton", "N000147", "norton.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that, with the confirmation last night of the last pending District of Columbia federal district court judge she has recommended to President Obama, Amit Mehta, all ten of Norton\u2019s district court judge recommendations to President Obama have been confirmed by the Senate.\u00a0 Mehta, who will be the first Asian Pacific American judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is currently a partner in the law firm Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, where he has been recognized by several legal publications for his exemplary work, including Super Lawyers, The National Law Journal, and Benchmark Litigation.\u00a0\n\u201cWe strived mightily for a perfect ten for our judges, and I\u2019ve been pushing during the lame-duck session,\u201d Norton said.\u00a0 \u201cWe are fortunate to have so much talent to choose from. Today, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is one of the most distinguished and diverse in the nation.\u201d\nMehta is a graduate of Georgetown University, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and the University of Virginia School of Law, Order of the Coif.\u00a0 He clerked for Judge Susan Graber, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.\u00a0 After clerking, Mehta worked at Zuckerman Spaeder as an associate for three years, and then worked for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS) for five years.\u00a0 At PDS, he represented indigent criminal defendants in trials, appeals and administrative proceedings.\u00a0 Having gotten first-rate criminal trial experience at PDS, he later rejoined Zuckerman Spaeder, where he has represented companies and individuals in a broad range of federal criminal matters, including bribery, political corruption, mail and wire fraud, export control and sanctions violations, and environmental crimes.\u00a0 He also has represented plaintiffs and defendants in federal civil matters, including antitrust and a Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action.\u00a0 In a pro bono capacity, Mehta has devoted more than 450 hours since 2010 to post-conviction proceedings for an individual convicted of murder.\u00a0 He is also vice president of the board of directors of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project.\u00a0 Mehta was born in India and moved with his family to the U.S. at the age of one.\nPresident Obama, like President Clinton, granted Norton senatorial courtesy to recommend candidates for federal district court judges and other important federal law enforcement officials in the District.\u00a0 The Congresswoman recommended Mehta from a number of candidates screened by her Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission, chaired by Pauline Schneider, a special counsel at Ballard Spahr LLP and a former president of the D.C. Bar.\u00a0 President Obama has nominated and the Senate has confirmed all ten of Norton\u2019s recommendations for district court judges \u2013 Ketanji Brown Jackson, Amy Berman Jackson, James E. Boasberg, Rudolph Contreras, Beryl A. Howell, Casey Cooper, Tanya Chutkan, Randolph Moss, and Robert Wilkins, who was the first of Norton\u2019s recommendations to President Obama for a vacancy on the district court.\u00a0 Wilkins is her first judicial recommendation to be promoted to the U.S. Court of Appeals.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://norton.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/all-ten-of-norton-s-judicial-recommendations-confirmed-by-senate"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0036039166152477, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}