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

These choices also continue to fulfill the President’s promise to ensure that national 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 list would include:

• The first Asian American judge to serve on the United States 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 nominations for federal judicial office and his eighth slate of nominations in 2022, bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 112.

President Biden has spent decades strengthening the federal judiciary, which is why he continues to move quickly to fill judicial vacancies. And he won the highest number of lower-court justices confirmed for the first year of a presidency since the Kennedy administration.

Circuit Court Press Biography

1. Cindy K. Chung: nominee 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 the 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 an 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 legal clerk for Judge Myron Thompson in the United States District Court for the Intermediate District of Alabama from 2002 to 2003. She earned her JD from Columbia Law School in 2002 and her BA from Yale University in 1997.

District Court Press Biographies

1. Kelley B. Hodge: United States District Court nominee 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 from 2018 to 2020. Ms. Hodge was the attorney for acting district of the City of Philadelphia from 2017 to 2018. From 2015 to 2016, she served as Title IX Coordinator and Executive Assistant to the President of the University of Virginia. From 2011 to 2015, she served as Safe Schools Advocate with the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. From 2004 to 2011, she worked at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. Ms. Hodge served as a public defender with the Richmond, Virginia Office of the Public Defender from 1997 to 2003. Ms. Hodge received her JD from the University of Richmond Law School in 1996 and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in 1993.

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

John Frank Murphy is a partner at Baker & Hostetler in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he has worked since 2007. Mr. Murphy has also been an adjunct professor at Rutgers Law School since 2014. Mr. Murphy served as law clerk to Chief Justice Kimberly A Moore on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from 2008 to 2009. Mr. Murphy received his JD, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2007, his master’s degree, and his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 2002 and 2004, and his BS, summa cum laude, from Cornell University in 1999.

3. Judge Mia Perez: United States District Court nominee 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, the Judge Perez was a partner at Friedman Schuman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was a defense assistant with the Defender Association of Philadelphia from 2006 to 2010. Justice Perez received her JD from Temple University, Beasley School of Law in 2006 and her BA from Tufts University in 2003.

4. Judge Kai Scott: Candidate for 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 being elected in 2015. Prior to joining the bench, Judge Scott was Chief of the Federal Community Defender Office Trial Unit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 2010 to 2015. Justice Scott served as an assistant federal defender from 2004 to 2010. From 1998 to 2004, Justice Scott served as a prosecutor with the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Justice Scott served as a legal clerk for Justice Donald Poorman of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers Compensation from 1996 to 1998. Justice Scott received her JD from West Virginia University College of Law in 1995 and her BA from Hampton University in 1991 .