Published
2 years agoon
President Joseph Biden nominated Jennifer L. Thurston of Bakersfield for a judgeship in California’s Eastern District on Wednesday.
Thurston is currently the Eastern District’s chief U.S. magistrate judge, a position she has held since last October. She became a federal magistrate judge in 2009.
Magistrate judges assist the district’s judges, including handling the first appearances of criminal defendants and setting bail.
The Eastern District is one of California’s four federal judicial districts. The geographically sprawling Eastern District is one of the busiest in the nation and has been short on judges for many years.
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Thurston served as a deputy counsel for Kern County’s Office of County Counsel from 1997 to 2009, where she handled civil matters, including litigation and appeals.
Thurston received her LL.M from Duke University in 2018, her J.D. from California Pacific School of Law in 1997, and her B.S. from California State University, Bakersfield, in 1989.
She now awaits a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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Biden announced eight candidates for the federal bench on Wednesday.
Click here to read about the others.
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email