Last updated on June 3, 2022
The Senate confirmed Wednesday President Joseph R. Biden’s nomination of Charlotte N. Sweeney as a U.S. District Court judge in Colorado.
Sweeney, a Denver employment lawyer, will become the second new federal trial court judge in the state since Biden’s inauguration.
Sweeney has been in law practice since 1995. A partner at Sweeney & Bechtold, the veteran lawyer has received numerous accolades for her work.
Among the cases in which she has successfully represented employees is one in which University of Denver Sturm College of Law professors obtained a multimillion-dollar settlement under federal civil rights law. Sweeney is also known as a drafter of the state’s Equal Pay for Equal Work law.
She will become the first openly LGBT federal judge in Colorado history and the first openly gay woman to serve on the federal district court in any state west of the Mississippi River.
First nominated in August 2021, Sweeney’s candidacy for the bench drew resistance from Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The evenly-divided panel tied when her nomination came up for a vote on Jan. 20 of this year.
The Democratic majority in the chamber successfully discharged her nomination from the committee. It was approved on the floor by a 48-46 vote.
Sweeney, once she receives her commission, will join Regina M. Rodriguez as a Biden appointee on the U.S. District Court bench.
Biden has nominated federal magistrate Nina Y. Wang to fill a third open seat on the court.
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