Tri-Cities judge and first Hispanic from WA nominated by Biden to 9th Circuit Court
U.S. Judge Sal Mendoza Jr. of the Tri-Cities may be about to break through another barrier for the Latino community.
President Biden on Wednesday nominated Mendoza to serve as a judge on the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
If his nomination is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Mendoza will be the first Hispanic judge from Washington state to ever serve on the 9th Circuit, according to an announcement from the White House.
A lifelong resident of Washington state and graduate of Prosser High School, he worked the crops of the Mid-Columbia alongside his parents. There were days he rose before dawn than rushed home to change clothes and get to school in time to get credit for a full day of classwork.
“That’s how we grew up. That was part of our reality,” Mendoza said when he was nominated for the Tri-Cities Martin Luther King Jr. Spirit Award in 2016. “It was something we needed to do in order to survive.”
His parents immigrated from Mexico to find jobs as migrant farmworkers, laborers and maids.
Their son would become the first Latino judge in the Benton Franklin justice system and the first Latino U.S. judge in Eastern Washington, working out of the Richland federal courthouse.
His nomination along with four other federal judicial nominations made Wednesday ensure that the nation’s courts reflect “the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country,” the White House said in an announcement.
“As the son of farmworkers, Judge Mendoza will bring an important perspective to one of the most powerful and consequential federal courts in this country,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who recommended him for the position.
Mendoza briefly worked for her as an intern.
She said he had earned the respect of both Democrats and Republicans for his judgment and even-handed application of the law during his years of public service, she said.
“I know people in Washington state will be able to count on him to respect every party that enters his courtroom and to deliver a fair judgment for everyone that appears before him,” Murray said.
He established the first Drug Court in Benton and Franklin counties, building a more fair and just legal system for everyone, not just the wealthy and powerful, she said.
He also was a proponent of equal access to justice through his work with Benton-Franklin Legal Aid Society and served as a trustee for Columbia Basin College in Pasco.
His legal career started as an assistant attorney general for Washington state from 1997 to 1998 and then he served as a deputy prosecuting attorney for Franklin County until 1999.
He went into private practice until 2013, including becoming president of a small law practice and also serving as a judge pro temp in various local courts..
His tenure as a Benton Franklin Superior Court Judge was brief. He served for just over a year before being sworn in as a U.S. District Court judge at a ceremony attended by more than three dozen family members.
He was nominated for a lifetime position as a federal judge by President Barack Obama in 2014. His nomination was confirmed then by a bipartisan vote of 92-4.
Mendoza graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and went to law school at the University of California Los Angeles.
This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 10:26 AM with the headline "Tri-Cities judge and first Hispanic from WA nominated by Biden to 9th Circuit Court."