US President Donald Trump has nominated an Indian-American lawyer Shireen Matthews to be a federal judge of the Southern California Southern District federal court in San Diego.
Trump Nominates Indian-American Lawyer Shireen Matthews
She is a partner with the elite law firm Jones Day, where she specializes in white-collar crimes involving allegations of bribery of public officials, defence contractor fraud, false claims, and health care fraud. Prior to that, she was an assistant federal prosecutor in California serving as the coordinator for criminal healthcare fraud cases.
Her nomination to Southern California Southern District federal court in San Diego was announced on Wednesday by the White House while her appointment has to be approved by the Senate.
If confirmed, Matthews will be the first Asian Pacific American woman and first Indian-American to serve as an Article III federal judge in the Southern District, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) said.
Matthews is the sixth Indian-American who has been nominated to the federal judiciary at various levels by Trump. Matthews earned her BA, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University and her law degree, cum laude, from Duke University School of Law.
South Asia Bar Association (SABA) President Aneesh has called it “a historic nomination” and has also urged “the Senate to quickly confirm her, adding another deserving South Asian voice to the judiciary.”
Matthews has also served on SABA North America board of directors.
Jones Day’s records show that while Shireen was a prosecutor, she has prosecuted violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, criminal false claims, and aggravated identity theft. Her success stories include uncovering a multimillion-dollar fraud involving stolen medical equipment from Camp Pendleton, a health care fraud investigation of a hospital CEO, prosecution of wide-ranging contract fraud by a San Diego-based biotech firm and also won one of the highest restitution awards for the Social Security (general public pension) trust fund.
