SCHUMER RECOMMENDS BRENDA SANNES, CHIEF OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION OF THE US ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, TO SERVE ON THE NORTHERN DISTRICT COURT – IF CONFIRMED, SANNES WOULD BE SECOND- EVER WOMAN TO SERVE ON BENCH IN SYRACUSE
Brenda Sannes Has Had Respected and Successful Legal Career Serving her Community in the Public Sector; Sannes Has Been a Dedicated Public Servant as an Assistant U.S. Attorney & Chief of the Appellate Division for Over Two Decades
Sannes Has Lived and Worked in the Syracuse Area and Northern District for Almost Fifteen Years – She Has a Sterling Record, a Stellar Legal Mind and Extensive Experience in the Region
Schumer: Sannes Embodies Best Qualities of a Legal Professional and Will Be Fair, Moderate Judge
Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that he is recommending Assistant U.S. Attorney Brenda Sannes to President Obama to serve as a judge in the United States District Court in the Northern District of New York (NDNY). Brenda Sannes would be the third woman to serve on the bench in the Northern District, and only the second-ever to sit in Syracuse. Schumer laid out several reasons Sannes would make an excellent fit for the job, saying that Sannes’s stellar legal background, proven commitment to public service, experience in the Syracuse area, even-handedness, temperament and demonstrated leadership skills make her an excellent choice for the Northern District federal court.
“I am honored to recommend Brenda Sannes to President Obama to serve on the Northern District federal court,” said Schumer. “Brenda Sannes has demonstrated a deep commitment to public service in the Syracuse area, as Chief of the Appellate Division she has shown real leadership and legal acumen – and she certainly has the expertise and the experience to capably fill a seat on the federal bench. It was always my goal to elevate more women to the bench – Sannes will be only the second-ever woman to sit in Syracuse for the Northern District – but more importantly, she has all the skills to be a fair, insightful, and well-respected judge.”
Brenda Sannes, if confirmed, will be only the third woman to serve on the bench in the NDNY. The first was Rosemary Pooler, now a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, who sat in Syracuse; the second was also recommended by Schumer, Mae D’Agostino, who sits in on the Northern District bench in Albany. Sannes would therefore be only the second woman on the NDNY to sit in Syracuse.
Brenda K. Sannes is the Chief of the Appellate Division, a post she has held since 2005, and also now serves as Syracuse Office Manager. Ms. Sannes was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Central District of California (Los Angeles) and has been an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of New York for well over a decade. In the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, Ms. Sannes handled narcotics and money laundering cases, served as a supervisor in the Narcotics Section, and was Anti-Terrorism Advisory Counsel Coordinator. In the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, Ms. Sannes has handled a variety of criminal cases involving narcotics, child exploitation, corruption, and health care fraud offenses, including United States v. Comer, an eleven-week cocaine conspiracy trial.
Ms. Sannes graduated magna cum laude from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota in 1980 and from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1983, where she was an Articles Editor on the Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. Following law school, she clerked for Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jerome Farris and was a litigation associate at a large law firm in Los Angeles, Wyman, Bautzer, Christensen, Kuchel and Silbert, before becoming an Assistant U.S. Attorney.