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Navajo Nation President commends historic confirmation of Diné judge to U.S. District Court in California

Stanford University

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez is commending the historic confirmation of a Diné woman to serve as a U.S. District Court Judge in California.

Sunshine Suzanne Sykes, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation from Tuba City, Arizona, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate Wednesday to serve as the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

That makes Sykes the first Native American Article III judge in California, the first Article III judge from the Navajo Nation and the fifth Native American Article III judge actively serving in the U.S.

She was nominated by President Joe Biden.

Sykes grew up in Tuba City on the Navajo Nation and received both aa B.A. and law degree from Stanford University.

She formerly worked as a staff attorney for California Indian Legal Services and a contract attorney for the Juvenile Defense Panel at the Southwest Justice Center.