Appointed by George W. Bush Preceded by James Browning | Name Sandra Ikuta Role Judge | |
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Born June 24, 1954 (age 69)
Los Angeles, California, U.S. ( 1954-06-24 ) Alma mater Stanford University
University of California, Berkeley
Columbia University
University of California, Los Angeles Education University of California, Berkeley | ||
Sandra Segal Ikuta (born June 24, 1954) is a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
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Background
Ikuta was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She completed an Artium Baccalaureus degree at the University of California, Berkeley in 1976, having previously attended Stanford University for two years. Ikuta received a Master of Science degree in journalism from Columbia University in 1978, and completed her Juris Doctor at UCLA School of Law in 1988. While there, she served as the editor of the UCLA Law Review.
Ikuta clerked for Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski from 1988 to 1989 and for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor from 1989 to 1990. She became an associate of the law firm O’Melveny & Myers in 1990 and went on to become a partner in 1997. At the time of her nomination, Ikuta had been general counsel of the California Resources Agency since January 2004.
Nomination and confirmation
Ikuta was nominated to the Ninth Circuit by President George W. Bush on February 8, 2006 to fill the seat vacated by Judge James R. Browning, who took senior status in 2000. Previously, Carolyn Kuhl had been nominated to that position, but she had been filibustered by Senate Democrats for a year until December 2004 when she withdrew her nomination. Ikuta was voted unanimously out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 26, 2006, and confirmed 81–0 by the U.S. Senate on June 19, 2006. She was the sixth judge appointed by Bush to the Ninth Circuit.
Ikuta now works alongside her former boss, Judge Alex Kozinski, for whom she clerked. He testified on her behalf at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on her nomination.
Ikuta's first published opinion on the Ninth Circuit was United States v. Baldrich, issued on December 27, 2006.