U.S. Senate unanimously confirms Brenda Sannes as federal judge in Syracuse

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Brenda K. Sannes, right, greets U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., prior to the start of a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing June 24, 2014, on her nomination to serve as a federal judge. The full Senate voted Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014 for passage of her nomination.

(Courtesy Office of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer)

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Senate voted 96-0 today to confirm the appointment of veteran federal prosecutor Brenda K. Sannes as a federal judge in Syracuse, seven months after she was nominated by President Barack Obama.

Sannes, 56, of Skaneateles, becomes only the second woman to serve as a U.S. District Court judge in Syracuse, and only the third in the history of the 32-county Northern District of New York that stretches to the Canadian border.

Obama nominated Sannes in May, acting on the recommendation of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. The senior senator in each state traditionally makes judicial recommendations to the White House.

Schumer, D-N.Y., said he selected Sannes because his priority is to elevate more women to the federal bench.

"Brenda has all of the attributes needed to be a fantastic federal judge -- she is thorough, fair, and has a passionate commitment to an impartial application of the rule of law," Schumer said after the vote today.

He added, "Today's vote demonstrates that members of both parties recognize that Ms. Sannes's qualifications are exemplary and that her experience will serve well the people of the Northern District Court."

Sannes has served as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Syracuse since 1994. She has served as chief of the Appellate Division in Syracuse since 2005. She previously worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Central District of California (Los Angeles). In that post, she handled narcotics and money laundering cases.

Sannes is filling the first opening for a federal judge in Syracuse in more than five years, the result of U.S. District Judge Norman Mordue's switch to senior status.

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