Sarah A. L. Merriam
Sarah Ann Leilani Merriam (born 1971) is an American attorney and jurist serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. She is a former United States magistrate judge of the same court. Early life and education. Merriam was born in Honolulu and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, where she attended the Hopkins School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University in 1993, a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2000, and a Master of Laws in judicial studies from the Duke University  School of Law in 2018. Career. Merriam was a law clerk for Judge Thomas Meskill of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She began her career as an associate with Cowdery, Ecker & Murphy in Hartford, Connecticut. From 2007 to 2015, Merriam served as an assistant public defender for the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Merriam was political director for a state employee union and helped manage the campaigns of two Democratic U.S. Senators, Chris Murphy and Chris Dodd. United States magistrate judge. In March 2015, Merriam was selected as a magistrate judge  of the District of Connecticut. She replaced Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons, who retired. She was sworn in on April 3, 2015. Her service terminated upon her elevation as a district court judge. District court. On June 15, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Merriam to serve as a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut to the seat vacated by Judge Janet C. Hall, who took senior status on January 21, 2021. On July 14, 2021, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On August 5, 2021, her  nomination was reported out of committee by a vote 13–9. On October 6, 2021, her nomination was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 54–46 after the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination earlier that day by a vote of 53-47. She received her judicial commission on October 8, 2021. Nomination to court of appeals. On April 27, 2022, President Joe Biden announced he would nominate Merriam to serve as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.