Trina Thompson

Northern District of California
	Ninth Circuit
Judgeships
	Posts: 14
	Judges: 14
	Vacancies: 0
Judges
	Chief: Richard Seeborg
	Active judges: Vince Girdhari Chhabria, James Donato, Beth Labson Freeman, Haywood Stirling Gilliam Jr., Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, Eumi Lee, Rita Lin, Araceli Martinez-Olguin, P. Casey Pitts, Jacqueline Scott Corley, Richard Seeborg, Trina Thompson, Jon S. Tigar, Noël Wise; Senior judges:; William Alsup, Saundra Armstrong, Charles Breyer, Edward Chen, Maxine Chesney, Edward J. Davila, Phyllis Hamilton, Thelton Henderson, Susan Illston, William Orrick III, Jeffrey White, Claudia Wilken

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Trina Thompson
	Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Progress
	Confirmed 196 days after nomination.
	Nominated: November 3, 2021
	ABA Rating: Well Qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: February 16, 2022
	Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: March 10, 2022
	Confirmed: May 18, 2022
	Vote: 51-44

Trina Thompson is a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on November 3, 2021, and confirmed by the United States Senate on May 18, 2022, by a vote of 51-44.^[1]^[2]^[3] Thompson was one of 235 Article III judges nominated by President Joe Biden (D) and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Thompson is a former judge of the Superior Court of Alameda County in California.

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States District Court for the Northern District of California

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On November 3, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Thompson to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. She was confirmed by a 51-44 vote of the U.S. Senate on May 18, 2022.^[1]^[2]^[3] Thompson received commission on August 5, 2022.^[4] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Thompson by a vote of 51-44 on May 18, 2022.^[3] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Thompson confirmation vote (May 18, 2022)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	46	0	2
Republican	3	44	3
Independent	2	0	0
Total	51	44	5

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Thompson's nomination on February 16, 2022. The committee voted to advance Thompson's nomination to the full Senate on March 10, 2022.^[3]

Nomination

On November 3, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Thompson to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.^[1]^[2]

Thompson's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2022.^[5] The president renominated Thompson on the same day.^[3]

Thompson was nominated to replace Judge Phyllis Hamilton, who assumed senior status on February 1, 2021.^[2]

The American Bar Association rated Thompson Well Qualified.^[6] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Biography

Education

Thompson received a bachelor's degree and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.^[7]

Career

2002-2022: Judge, Superior Court of Alameda County
1991-2000: Attorney in private practice
1987-1991: Public defender, Alameda County Public Defender's Office^[7]

About the court

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California is one of 94 United States district courts. It is headquartered in San Francisco, with courthouses in Oakland, San Jose, and Eureka. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse.

The Counties of the Northern District of California (click for larger map)

The Northern District of California has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

There are three court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Oakland Division, covering Alameda and Contra Costa counties.^[8]

The San Francisco Division, covering Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Sonoma counties.^[8]

The San Jose Division, covering Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties.^[8]

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

Elections

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Alameda County, California (2020)

Incumbent Trina Thompson was the only candidate to file and won the position by default when the election was canceled.

2014

See also: California judicial elections, 2014
Thompson ran for re-election to the Alameda County Superior Court.
As an unopposed incumbent, she was automatically re-elected without appearing on the ballot. ^[9]

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

Trina Thompson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 The White House, "President Biden Names Ninth Round of Judicial Nominees," November 3, 2021
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 Congress.gov, "PN1359 — Trina L. Thompson — The Judiciary," accessed November 4, 2021
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 Congress.gov, "PN1510 — Trina L. Thompson — The Judiciary," accessed January 5, 2022
↑ Federal Judicial Center, "Thompson, Trina Lynn," accessed August 10, 2022
↑ Under Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, pending nominations are returned to the president if the Senate adjourns sine die or recesses for more than 30 days.
↑ American Bar Association, "RATINGS OF ARTICLE III AND ARTICLE IV JUDICIAL NOMINEES, 117TH CONGRESS, last updated February 15, 2022
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named pr
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Jurisdiction Map
↑ Alameda County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate Filed Log for June 3, 2014 election, accessed March 14, 2014"

Political offices
Preceded by Phyllis Hamilton	United States District Court for the Northern District of California 2022-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Superior Court of Alameda County 2003-2022	Succeeded by Maria Morga