Senator Murray: “From growing up in Richland and attending college at UW, to serving in the Federal Public Defender’s office in Yakima and on the Court of Appeals in Spokane, Judge Pennell has deep ties to Washington state and a real depth of experience—all of which makes her an excellent choice to be a federal judge for the Eastern District of Washington.”
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), who leads the federal judicial selection process for Washington state, issued the following statement on the nomination of Judge Rebecca Pennell to serve as a U.S. District Court Judge in the Eastern District of Washington.
Murray recommended Judge Pennell 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.
“Judge Pennell is a true public servant who has spent her career working to ensure that vulnerable people in Washington state can access a justice system that treats people fairly and works for everyone,” said Senator Murray. “From growing up in Richland and attending college at UW, to serving in the Federal Public Defender’s office in Yakima and on the Court of Appeals in Spokane, Judge Pennell has deep ties to Washington state and a real depth of experience—all of which makes her an excellent choice to be a federal judge for the Eastern District of Washington. Her commitment to serving her community is reflected in everything from her 15-year career as a public defender to her work providing legal services to vulnerable children and helping to establish re-entry programs in Yakima and the Tri-Cities. I’ll be working hard to advance her nomination and look forward to seeing her confirmed as the next district court judge for the Eastern District of Washington.”
Judge Rebecca Pennell is a former career public defender who currently serves as a judge for Division III of the Washington Court of Appeals in Spokane. She was appointed to that position by Governor Jay Inslee in January 2016 and was reelected without opposition in 2016 and 2020. Judge Pennell grew up in Richland, WA, where her father worked at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. She attended the University of Washington for college and earned her law degree from Stanford Law School in 1996, graduating with distinction. After law school, Judge Pennell clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Robert H. Whaley in Spokane. In 1999, Judge Pennell moved to Yakima, WA after being awarded a Skadden Fellowship, where she focused on providing wrap-around legal services for children as part of an organization called TeamChild; her work at TeamChild focused on keeping high risk students in school. Judge Pennell later joined the Federal Public Defender’s office, where she practiced for over 15 years as a trial lawyer and appellate counsel. In this capacity, she also represented indigent clients on the Yakama Nation Indian Reservation. Judge Pennell is fluent in Spanish and a significant portion of her clients in eastern Washington were Spanish speakers. In addition to her advocacy work, Judge Pennell helped establish re-entry drug court programs in Yakima and the Tri-Cities. Judge Pennell lives in Yakima with her husband and daughter. She is committed to community service, including through participation in Rotary, the Washington State Civil Legal Aid Oversight Committee, and with past service on the boards of the YWCA of Yakima and the Yakima Area Arboretum.
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. Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, Senator Murray has secured the votes to confirm nine federal judges from Washington state to a lifetime appointment in total. Murray successfully secured the confirmation of seven U.S. District Court judges for the Western District of Washington—Lauren King, David Estudillo, Tana Lin, John Chun, Jamal Whitehead, Kymberly Evanson, and Tiffany Cartwright—filling every single vacancy and reshaping the federal bench in Western Washington. In addition to the seven aforementioned justices from the Western District of Washington, Murray also secured the confirmation of Kit Dimke, who is serving in the Eastern District of Washington, and 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.
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