Judge Martinez and Ms. Lanham now advance to full U.S. Senate consideration
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema applauded the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s advancement of Krissa Lanham and Angela Martinez’s Judicial Nominations to serve as federal judges for the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Sinema urged her colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support Lanham’s and Martinez’s nominations.
Sinema worked closely with the White House to nominate Judge Martinez and Ms. Lanham – two highly respected members of Arizona’s legal community with decades of experience.
“I’m proud of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan approval of Angela Martinez and Krissa Lanham to become federal district judges in Arizona. Angela and Krissa are trusted legal experts, deeply committed to justice and the rule of law,” said Sinema.
Earlier this year, Sinema applauded the Arizonans’ nominations, which she helped secure – and last month, Sinema was honored to introduce both Arizona District Court Judge nominees to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.
Judge Angela M. Martinez has been a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Arizona since 2023. Judge Martinez was previously an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona from 2015 to 2023. From 2013 to 2015, she served as a law clerk for Judge Jennifer G. Zipps on the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Prior to that, Judge Martinez was an associate at Farhang & Medcoff, P.L.L.C. from 2012 to 2013 after an earlier period serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Arizona from 2005 to 2009. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Judge Martinez was an associate at Lewis and Roca, L.L.P. in Phoenix and Tucson from 2002 to 2004 and she served as a law clerk for Judge John M. Roll on the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona from 2000 to 2002. Judge Martinez received her J.D. from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in 2000 and her B.A. from the University of Arizona in 1995.
Krissa M. Lanham has been an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona since 2009. She has served as Appellate Chief in that office since 2020, after previously serving as the Deputy Appellate Chief and Human Trafficking Coordinator. Ms. Lanham served as a law clerk for Judge Barry G. Silverman on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2008 to 2009 and for Judge Robert N. Chatigny on the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut from 2007 to 2008. She received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2007 and her B.A., summa cum laude, from Yale University in 2002.
Sinema has a track record of earning broad bipartisan support for judicial nominees. In 2022, Sinema personally ensured the swift confirmation of Arizonan Roopali Desai as federal judge for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.