The anticipated confirmation of a San Diego federal judge nominee has hit a snag.
Marian Gaston was nominated by President Joe Biden in December 2022 and recommended by the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 11-10 party-line vote in May. However, the full Senate failed to take a vote on her confirmation in the months that followed.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Marian Gaston
(San Diego Superior Court)
Now, as the first congressional session closes, her nomination, along with several others, has been sent back to the White House. Biden will have to nominate her again in 2024 and send her back through committee, although it will likely send her to the Senate floor again, more quickly this time.
Many of the judicial nominees returned to Biden, including Gaston, were opposed by Republican members of the Judiciary Committee, according to Carl Tobias, the Williams Chair in Law at the University of Richmond School of Law, who closely follows judicial nominations.
Gaston has been a Superior Court judge in San Diego since 2015. Before that she spent nearly 20 years as a deputy public defender with the San Diego County Public Defender’s Office.
Her record as a public defender was scrutinized by some GOP members during her hearing, with some suggesting she might be soft on crime, pointing to a paper she coauthored arguing sex offender registry requirements were having unintended consequences. California Sen. Alex Padilla, who recommended her to the White House, vigorously defended her.
Her nomination is meant to fill a vacancy left by U.S. District Judge William Hayes, who in 2021 assumed senior status — leaving him on the bench but with a reduced caseload and staff.
