Washington, D.C. – Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today thanked President Obama for sending the nominations of Rosemary Márquez and Jennifer Guerin to the Senate for appointment to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Grijalva called both women “eminently qualified nominees who should be approved without delay.”
Given the urgent backlog of federal casework in Arizona, Grijalva said, both nominees “should be confirmed not only enthusiastically but as fast as possible.”
Márquez has been in private practice in Tucson since 2000 with a focus on federal criminal defense. She previously served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender from 1996 to 2000, representing indigent defendants in federal district court and on appeal before the Ninth Circuit. From 1994 to 1996 she served as a public defender for the Pima County Office of the Legal Defender. Márquez began her legal practice as a deputy county attorney in the Pima County Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted domestic violence and a range of other cases. She received her B.A. in 1990 and her J.D. in 1993 from the University of Arizona.
Guerin Zipps is a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Arizona, a position she has held since 2005. From 1999 until her appointment to the bench, she was an Assistant United States Attorney in Arizona, serving as the Chief of the Civil Division in 2002 and the Chief Assistant United States Attorney from 2002 until 2005. Prior to entering government service, she was an associate at Molloy, Jones & Donahue in Tucson from 1991 until 1995. From 1990 to 1991, she served as a law clerk to William Canby of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Judge Guerin Zipps received her B.A. with honors in 1986 from the University of Arizona and her J.D. cum laude in 1990 from the Georgetown University Law Center.
“I sincerely hope the Senate recognizes their years of experience, their legal qualifications, and their unique talents as longtime Arizona legal experts,” Grijalva said of the nominations. “They should be confirmed swiftly so they can begin what I know will be distinguished careers on the federal bench.”