Mark Scarsi

Mark C. Scarsi is a judge on the United States District Court for the Central District of California. He was nominated by President Donald Trump (R) on November 13, 2018.^[1] The U.S. Senate confirmed Scarsi by an 83-12 vote on September 15, 2020.^[2] To see a full list of judges appointed by Donald Trump, click here.

The United States District Court for the Central District of California is one of 94 U.S. district courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Scarsi was a partner in the office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCoy LLP, in Los Angeles, California, from 2007 to 2020.^[3]

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States District Court for the Central District of California (2020-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

On November 13, 2018, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Scarsi to a seat on the United States District Court for the Central District of California.^[1] He was confirmed by an 83-12 vote of the U.S. Senate on September 15, 2020.^[2] Scarsi received commission on September 18, 2020.^[4] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: Mark C. Scarsi
Court: United States District Court for the Central District of California
Progress
Confirmed 672 days after nomination.
Nominated: November 13, 2018
ABA Rating: Unanimously well qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
Hearing: November 13, 2019
QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more)
Reported: March 5, 2020
Confirmed: September 15, 2020
Vote: 83-12

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Scarsi by an 83-12 vote on September 15, 2020.^[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Scarsi confirmation vote (September 15, 2020)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	31	12	2
Republican	51	0	2
Independent	1	0	1
Total	83	12	5

Change in Senate rules

See also:

Filibuster and reconciliation in the United States Congress

Federal judges nominated by Donald Trump

United States federal courts

Scarsi was confirmed to a U.S. District Court under a new precedent the Senate established.

On April 3, 2019, the U.S. Senate voted 51-48 in favor of a change to chamber precedent lowering the maximum time allowed for debate on executive nominees to posts below the Cabinet level and on nominees to district court judgeships from 30 hours after invoking cloture to two.^[5]

The change was passed under a procedure, often referred to as the nuclear option, that requires 51 votes rather than 60.^[6]

It was the third use of the nuclear option in Senate history. In 2013, it was used to eliminate the 60-vote threshold to confirm presidential nominees, except those to the Supreme Court. In 2017, it was used to eliminate the 60-vote threshold required to confirm Supreme Court nominees.^[7] For more, see Filibuster and reconciliation in the United States Congress.

Senate Judicial Committee

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Scarsi's nomination on November 13, 2019.^[8] Scarsi was reported to the full Senate on March 5, 2020, after a voice vote by the judiciary committee.^[9]

Nomination

On October 10, 2018, President Donald Trump (R) announced his intent to nominate Scarsi to a seat on the United States District Court for the Central District of California.^[3] His nomination was received in the U.S. Senate on November 13, 2018.^[1]

At the sine die adjournment of the 115th Congress on January 3, 2019, the Senate returned Scarsi's nomination to President Trump.^[10]

Trump announced his intent to renominate Scarsi on January 30, 2019.^[11] The Senate received Scarsi's renomination on February 6, 2019.^[12]

The nomination was returned to the president a second time at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2020.^[13] The president officially renominated Scarsi on January 9.^[2]

Scarsi was nominated to succeed George King, who retired from judicial service on January 6, 2017.

The American Bar Association unanimously rated Scarsi well qualified for the position.^[14] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Early life and education

Scarsi was born in 1964 in Syracuse, New York. He received a B.S. and an M.S. in computer science from Syracuse University in 1987 and 1993, respectively. He obtained a J.D., magna cum laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1996.^[15][16]

Professional career

• 2020-present: Judge, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
• 2007-2020: Partner, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCoy LLP, in Los Angeles, California
• 1998-2007: O'Melveny & Myers LLP
  • 2003-2007: Partner
  • 1998-2003: Associate
• 1996-1998: Associate, Christie, Parker & Hale LLP
• 1993-1994: Engineer (part-time), Lockheed Martin Corporation in Reston, Virginia
• 1987-1993: Engineer, GE Aerospace/Martin Marietta/Lockheed Martin Corporation^[15]

Associations

• American Bar Association
• American Business Trial Lawyers
• American Intellectual Property Law Association
• The Federalist Society
• Italian American Lawyers' Association
• Los Angeles County Bar
• Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Association
• Republican National Lawyers Association
• St. Thomas More Society of Los Angeles^[15]

About the court

Central District of California
Ninth Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 28
Judges: 28
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Dolly Gee
Active judges: Fernando Aenlle-Rocha, Mónica Ramírez Almadani, Percy Anderson, Jesus Bernal, André Birotte Jr., Stanley Blumenfeld, David Carter, Michelle Williams Court, Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, Michael Fitzgerald, Sherilyn P. Garnett, Dolly Gee, John William Holcomb, Wesley L. Hsu, Anne Hwang, Kenly Kiya Kato, Robert Klausner, Serena R. Murillo, Fernando Olguin, Mark C. Scarsi, Fred W. Slaughter, Josephine Staton, Sunshine S. Sykes, Cynthia Valenzuela, Hernán D. Vera, John Walter, Stephen Wilson, Otis Wright Senior judges: Valerie Baker Fairbank, Dale Fischer, Terry Hatter, Aaron Kampfe, William Duffy Keller, John A. Kronstadt, Ronald Lew, Consuelo Marshall, Virginia Phillips, Dean Pregerson, James Selna, Christina Snyder, George Wu

The United States District Court for the Central District of California is one of 94 United States district courts. The court serves about seventeen million people in southern and central California, making it the largest federal judicial district by population. The district operates out of courthouses in Santa Ana, Riverside and two locations in Los Angeles. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse. Initial appeals are heard in Pasadena at the Richard Chambers Courthouse.

The Central District of California has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

There are three court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Eastern Division, covering Riverside and San Bernardino counties.^[17]

The Southern Division, covering Orange County.^[17]

The Western Division, covering Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.^[17]

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

• The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
• The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

• As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

• After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

• If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
• If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

• The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

• If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
• If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

See also

• United States District Court for the Central District of California
• United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
• Biography from Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCoy LLP (archived November 2018)
• United States District Court for the Central District of California
• United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit

Footnotes