Mia Roberts Perez

Eastern District of Pennsylvania
	Third Circuit
Judgeships
	Posts: 22
	Judges: 22
	Vacancies: 0
Judges
	Chief: Mitchell Goldberg
	Active judges: ; Wendy Beetlestone, Mary Kay Costello, Paul Diamond, John Gallagher, Mitchell Goldberg, Catherine Henry, Kelley Hodge, Mark A. Kearney, Chad F. Kenney Sr., Joseph F. Leeson Jr., Karen Marston, Gerald Austin McHugh Jr., John Frank Murphy, Gerald J. Pappert, Mia Roberts Perez, Nitza I. Quinones Alejandro, Juan Sanchez, Jeffrey L. Schmehl, Kai Scott, Gail Weilheimer, Joshua Wolson, John M. Younge; Senior judges:; Harvey Bartle, Michael Baylson, Anita Brody, Ronald Buckwalter, Legrome Davis, Jan DuBois, Darnell Jones, Robert Kelly, John Padova Sr., Eduardo Robreno, Cynthia Rufe, Timothy J. Savage, Berle Schiller, Joel Slomsky, Richard Barclay Surrick, Petrese Tucker, William Yohn

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Mia Roberts Perez
	Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Progress
	Confirmed 148 days after nomination.
	Nominated: July 12, 2022
	ABA Rating: Well qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: September 7, 2022
	Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: September 29, 2022
	Confirmed: December 7, 2022
	Vote: 52-43

Mia Roberts Perez is a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on July 12, 2022, and confirmed by the United States Senate on December 7, 2022, by a vote of 52-43.^[1]^[2] To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Prior to her confirmation, Perez was a judge for the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. She was elected on November 3, 2015.

Judicial nominations, appointments, and elections

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (2022-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On July 12, 2022, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Mia Roberts Perez to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She was confirmed by a 52-43 vote of the U.S. Senate on December 7, 2022.^[1] Perez received commission on December 16, 2022.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Perez by a vote of 52-43 on December 7, 2022.^[1] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Perez confirmation vote (December 7, 2022)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	44	0	4
Republican	6	43	1
Independent	2	0	0
Total	52	43	5

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Perez's nomination on September 7, 2022. Perez was reported to the full Senate on September 29, 2022, after a 13-9 committee vote.^[3]

Nomination

On July 12, 2022, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Mia Roberts Perez to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Perez was nominated to replace Judge Timothy J. Savage, who assumed senior status on March 1, 2021.^[1]

The American Bar Association rated Perez well qualified.^[4] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas (2015-2022)

See also: Pennsylvania judicial elections, 2015

Pennsylvania's judicial elections included a primary on May 19, 2015, and a general election on November 3, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates was March 11, 2015.

The following candidates ran in the general election.

Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, 12 seats, General Election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Kenneth J. Powell, Jr. Incumbent	9.4%	150,720
	Democratic	Mia Roberts-Perez	9.1%	145,722
	Democratic	Kai Scott	8.9%	143,461
	Democratic	Tracy Brandeis-Roman	8.8%	141,304
	Democratic	Abbe Fletman Incumbent	8.7%	140,026
	Democratic	Lyris Younge	8.3%	133,420
	Democratic	Stephanie M. Sawyer	7.8%	124,875
	Democratic	Michael Fanning Incumbent	7.5%	119,823
	Democratic	Chris Mallios	7.5%	119,757
	Democratic	Daine A. Grey Jr.	7.4%	119,141
	Democratic	Rainy Papademetriou	7.3%	117,702
	Democratic	Scott Diclaudio	7.0%	112,577
	Republican	Vincent Furlong	2.3%	36,186
Total Votes				1,604,714
Source: Pennsylvania Department of State, "Unofficial General Election Results," November 3, 2015

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary.

Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, 12 seats, Democratic Primary, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Kenneth J. Powell, Jr. Incumbent	4.7%	53,682
Kai Scott	4.6%	51,923
Tracy Brandeis-Roman	4.5%	51,028
Abbe Fletman Incumbent	4.1%	46,533
Mia Roberts-Perez	3.8%	42,778
Lyris Younge	3.6%	40,815
Rainy Papademetriou	3.5%	39,802
Scott Diclaudio	3.5%	39,678
Daine A. Grey Jr.	3.4%	38,151
Chris Mallios	3.0%	34,428
Michael Fanning Incumbent	2.9%	33,310
Stephanie M. Sawyer	2.9%	33,199
Jennifer Schultz	2.9%	32,825
Leon Goodman	2.8%	31,853
Vincent Melchiorre Incumbent	2.6%	29,548
Frances Fattah	2.6%	29,116
Brian Ortelere	2.5%	28,514
Stella Tsai	2.4%	26,957
Deborah Watson-Stokes	2.4%	26,656
Thomas Martin	2.3%	26,602
Jon Marshall	2.2%	24,922
Sandjai Weaver	2.1%	23,950
Lynne M. Summers	2.1%	23,896
Betsy Wahl	2.1%	23,662
James Berardinelli	2.0%	22,783
Anthony Kyriakakis	1.9%	21,718
Lucretia Clemons	1.8%	20,636
Vincent Furlong	1.8%	20,189
Leon A. King II	1.7%	19,781
Edward Louden Jr.	1.7%	19,664
Marissa Brumbach	1.7%	19,558
Wayne Bennett	1.6%	17,758
Chris McCabe	1.5%	16,628
Jodi Lobel	1.5%	16,449
Vince Giusini	1.4%	16,363
Shanese Johnson	1.4%	15,368
Rania Major	1.2%	13,798
Joshua Hill	1.2%	13,471
Sherman Toppin	1.1%	12,627
William Ciancaglini	0.9%	9,762
Franklin Bennett III	0.7%	7,653
Tangie Boston	0.7%	7,491
Write-in votes	0%	0
Total Votes		1,125,525
Source: Philly Election Results, "May 19, 2015 Municipal Primary & Special Election Results," May 20, 2015

Bar Association rating

Roberts-Perez was recommended by the Philadelphia Bar Association.^[5]

Endorsements

Roberts-Perez's 2015 endorsements included the following:

Democratic City Committee
Equality Pennsylvania
Lationo Empowerment Alliance
Liberty City Democratic Club
Philadelphia Gay News
Philly Neighborhood Networks
Progressive Philly Rising
The Philadelphia Tribune

AFSCME District Councils 33, 47, 1199c
Firefighters & Paramedics. Local 22
Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 5
Laborers District Council 332
Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO
Transportation Workers, Local 234
Philadelphia 9th, 8th and 5th Wards

^[6]

Biography

Education

Roberts Perez received her undergraduate degree from Tufts University and her J.D. from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.^[6]

Career

Roberts Perez began her own law practice, Perez Law LLC, in 2011. She has been an adjunct professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law since 2010. She previously worked at Friedman Schuman Applebaum, PC and the Defender Association of Philadelphia.^[6]

Awards and associations

Member, Federal Bar Association, Criminal Law Committee;
Member, Pennsylvania Bar Association
Member, Philadelphia Bar Association, Criminal Law Committee
Member, Hispanic Bar Association
Founding member, Women in the Law
Development committee member, Women Against Abuse
Volunteer, Temple LEAP^[6]

About the court

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is one of 94 United States district courts. It is one of the original thirteen federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit based in downtown Philadelphia at the James Byrne Courthouse.

Jurisdiction

Pennsylvania counties (click for larger map)

The Eastern District of Pennsylvania has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

The geographic jurisdiction of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania consists of all the following counties in the eastern part of the state:

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.