Who Is Roopali Desai? First South Asian Judge Appointed To Top US Court

The United States Senate confirmed that the Indian-American Roopali Desai will serve on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Desai’s appointment makes her the first South Asian judge to serve on the court.

Roopali Desai’s appointment to the Court of Appeals was confirmed by the Senate by a bipartisan vote of 67-29. The US Courts of Appeal are the intermediate appellate courts that are divided into circuits that cover a geographic area of the nation. The Ninth Circuit is headquartered in San Francisco, California and is the largest of the thirteen courts of appeals. It covers nine states, and two territories, and has 29 active judgeships.

President Joe Biden nominated Desai to serve as a circuit judge on the Ninth Court on June 15, 2022. Desai is awaiting her judicial commission, which will make her the first South Asian to serve on the Ninth Circuit.

Who Is Roopali Desai?

• Indian-American Roopali Desai was born in Toronto, Canada and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arizona. Desai then attended the James E. Rogers College of Law and graduated in 2005.
• Desai began her career 16 years ago after she served as a law chief to Chief Judge Mary M Schroeder of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
• Desai has also served as an associate at Lewis & Roca law firm and at the Coppersmith Brockelman. She joined Coppersmith Brockelman in 2007 and became a partner in 2013.
• She later served as the legal counsel and campaign attorney for senator Kyrsten Sinema.
• Following the 2020 US presidential election, Desai represented the office of Arizona Secretary of State in several cases regarding challenges to the state’s results.
• USA Today named Roopali Desai as Women of the Year in 2022 for her work in launching a recreational marijuana program in Arizona, overturning a ban on mask mandates, and the lawsuits against false claims about the 2020 US presidential election.
• President Joe Biden nominated Desai to serve as the US circuit judge of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Her nomination was confirmed and she will take the seat of Judge Andrew D Hurwitz.

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