The President is announcing his intent to nominate two individuals to federal district courts—both 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.

This will be President Biden’s fifty-fifth round of nominees for federal judicial positions, bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 259.

United States District Court Announcements

1. Judge Benjamin J. Cheeks: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of California

Judge Benjamin J. Cheeks has been a United States Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California since July 2024. Prior to joining the bench, Judge Cheeks was a criminal defense lawyer in private practice at the Law Offices of Benjamin J. Cheeks, A.P.C. in San Diego from 2013 to 2024. From 2010 to 2013, Judge Cheeks served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. Earlier in his career, he served as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office from 2003 to 2010. Judge Cheeks received his J.D. from the American University, Washington College of Law in 2003 and his B.A. from the University of Miami, Florida in 2000.

2. Judge Serena Murillo: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Central District of California

Judge Serena Murillo has been a judge on the Los Angeles Superior Court since 2015. She also served by appointment of the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court as an Associate Justice pro tem on the California Court of Appeal from 2018 to 2019. Prior to joining the bench, Judge Murillo served as a Deputy District Attorney in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office from 1997 to 2014. Earlier in her career, she worked as an associate attorney at McNicholas & McNicholas in Los Angeles in 1997 and as a law clerk at Shernoff, Bidart, and Echeverria in Claremont, California in 1996. Judge Murillo received her J.D. from Loyola Law School in 1996 and her B.A. from the University of California, San Diego in 1993.

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