Stanford Alum Named to U.S. Appeals Court

A Stanford graduate with Bay Area ties reached one of the highest levels of U.S. law on Thursday. The U.S. Senate confirmed Sri Srinivasan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Srinivasan is the first nominee to that important Circuit Court to win confirmation. Because that court considers legal challenges to executive actions by the President — such as environmental or health regulations — it's considered a stepping stone to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The 46-year-old Srinivasan is an attorney with the Obama Adminsitration's Solicitor General office, a holdover from the Bush Administration. Those kinds of bipartisan credentials won him support from Republican Senators who objected to previous Obama nominees.

Santa Clara Law School professor Bradley Joondeph, who is married to Srinivasan's sister, confirms that Srinivasan does not see the law in political terms.

"He is not ideologically driven," said Joodeph. "He is someone who is very devoted I think to the craft of legal argumentation and the integrity of the law."

Srinivasan was born in India. He father brought the family to the U.S. after earning a Fulbright Scholarship to study at UC Berkeley.

His confirmation by 97-0 means the D.C. Appeals Court now has four judges appointed by Republican Presidents and four by Democrats.