Murray: “A judiciary that serves all people fairly—not just the rich and powerful—and upholds the rule of law is at the bedrock of our democracy, and I am confident that Judge Bjelkengren will bring those values to the federal bench”
(Washington, D.C.) — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement on the nomination of Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren to serve as a U.S. District Court Judge in the Eastern District of Washington.
Murray recommended Judge Bjelkengren to the White House after she was submitted to the Senator for consideration by Murray’s nonpartisan judicial merit selection committee for the Eastern District of Washington. Senator Murray’s process for recommending candidates for the federal bench has been lauded as a national model for senators to replicate—for its emphasis on diversity of professional experience and background.
“A judiciary that serves all people fairly—not just the rich and powerful—and upholds the rule of law is at the bedrock of our democracy, and I am confident that Judge Bjelkengren will bring those values to the federal bench,” said Senator Murray. “Not only has Judge Bjelkengren demonstrated her commitment to fairness and impartiality on the Spokane County Superior Court and, previously, as an administrative law judge—she also served Washington state as an Assistant Attorney General in Spokane, where she worked on issues from child care to higher education. I look forward to seeing her continue to serve Eastern Washington as a judge on the District Court, and I’ll work hard to advance her nomination as quickly as possible to consideration by the full Senate.”
Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren currently serves on the Spokane County Superior Court, and was the first Black female judge in Eastern Washington when she was appointed in 2019. Previously, Bjelkengren served as senior administrative law judge in the Spokane Valley Office of Administrative Hearings. In that role, she held hearings involving the Employment Security Department and the Department of Social and Health Services and oversaw a team of administrative law judges. Bjelkengren previously worked for the Washington State Attorney General’s Office in Spokane. As an assistant attorney general, she represented several state agencies, including the Department of Social and Health Services, Department of Licensing, and Employment Security Department. While at the Attorney General’s office, she also worked on issues including childcare licensing, civil commitments, unemployment compensation, and higher education. She graduated from Minnesota State University and received her JD at Gonzaga University School of Law, located in Spokane, WA.
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. Since the start of this Congress, Senator Murray has secured the lifetime appointments of five highly qualified candidates as federal district court judges in Washington state.
Most recently, Senator Murray secured the confirmations of 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 will be 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 from the Spokane Courthouse. Senator Murray is currently pushing to confirm Salvador Mendoza Jr. to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, whose seat in the Eastern District Judge Bjelkengren is nominated to fill and who, as a child, worked as a farmworker and is the son of Mexican immigrants who worked as farm laborers, maids, and factory workers; and Tiffany Cartwright, a leading civil rights lawyer, both of whom advanced out the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support, as well as Jamal Whitehead, the Biden Administration’s first nominee with a disability to the federal bench, and Kymberly Evanson to the Western District of Washington, who have yet to receive a hearing.
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