On Wednesday, President Joe Biden nominated three individuals to serve on federal district courts: Elizabeth Coombe, Sarah Davenport, and Sharad Desai. Coombe, a prosecutor in Albany, New York, and Davenport, a prosecutor in Las Cruces, New Mexico, bring extensive legal experience to their nominations. Desai, a corporate lawyer at Honeywell in Phoenix, is the brother of Roopali Desai, who became the first South Asian American judge on the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2022.
The White House emphasized that these nominations reflect President Biden’s commitment to increasing diversity within the U.S. judiciary. Since Biden took office, the Democratic-led U.S. Senate has confirmed 205 judges to the federal bench.
Desai, who has held senior legal roles at Honeywell since 2015, focuses on supply chain and information technology matters. Arizona U.S. Senators Kyrsten Sinema, an independent, and Democrat Mark Kelly voiced their support for Desai, noting his respect within Arizona’s legal community. If confirmed, Desai would be the first South Asian American federal district judge in Arizona.
Coombe has worked as a federal prosecutor in the Northern District of New York since 2003, holding the office’s first assistant position for the last six years. Democratic New York U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand praised Coombe as a “dedicated public servant and an expert in complex legal matters.”
Davenport has served as a federal prosecutor in Las Cruces since 2009, handling multi-defendant criminal cases. New Mexico’s U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, both Democrats, commended Davenport’s impressive legal career.
Sharad Desai attended his sister Roopali’s confirmation hearing, where she highlighted the support she receives from her brother and sister, who is a law professor in Arizona. The Desais are set to join the ranks of sibling pairs who have served in the U.S. judiciary. Justice Stephen Breyer, who retired in 2022, sat on the U.S. Supreme Court while his brother Charles Breyer served as a federal trial court judge in San Francisco. Justice Breyer regularly recused himself from cases his brother had ruled on.
