Reno attorney Du confirmed as federal judge

WASHINGTON -- Miranda Du, who arrived in the United States as a Vietnamese refugee when she was a youngster and who became partner in a Reno law firm, was confirmed as a federal judge for Nevada on Wednesday.

The U.S. Senate voted 59-39 to approve Du, 42, to the lifetime appointment. It would help ease what federal administrators had declared to be a "judicial emergency" in a state facing multiple departures of veteran judges.

Du drew bipartisan support among senators but also a relatively high number of negative votes for a lower federal court nominee. Of 68 confirmed district judges in the current Congress, only eight had received more than 10 votes in opposition.

She was criticized by some Republicans who said she lacked courtroom and criminal law experience. She also came under scrutiny for her handling of a 2008 case representing the Truckee Meadows Water Authority that resulted in her being sanctioned by the Nevada federal court.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged senators to reject Du, saying she "does not measure up."

But Du was backed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and was endorsed by top Nevada Republicans including Sen. Dean Heller and Gov. Brian Sandoval.

"I'm impressed by Du's extensive litigation experience and her unquestionable devotion to the state of Nevada. I am confident she will serve with honor and fairness on Nevada's bench and will be an excellent federal judge," Reid said of Du, who becomes the first Asian-American judge in the Nevada court.

"Today is an incredibly proud day for me and my family," Du said in a statement distributed by her law firm, McDonald Carano Wilson LLP. "I never thought something like this would be possible, and the fact that I had the opportunity to be educated in the United States and be nominated to this position is an affirmation of the American Dream."

While Du won confirmation, the White House and Reid choice to fill a second Nevada federal court slot has run into trouble. The nomination of Clark County District Judge Elissa Cadish could be doomed after Heller served notice he would not support her.

Reid told The Associated Press he was "kind of stunned" when Heller's office told him he would not back Cadish. Without Heller's endorsement, the nomination might not be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Reid said Cadish, a state judge since 2007, "is not out of sight or out of mind," suggesting he might try to change Heller's mind or recommend her for a future opening.

Heller spokesman Stewart Bybee would not explain Heller's opposition, saying in a statement only that Heller "will continue to work with Senator Reid to fill any judicial vacancies in the state of Nevada."

Urging the Senate to make Du a judge, Reid made a selling point out of her compelling life story. When she was 8, her family fled Vietnam by boat after the North Vietnamese took control, and they lived in refugee camps in Malaysia before coming to America and initially settling in Alabama almost two years later.

"She didn't speak English when she enrolled in an American school for the first time," Reid said. "But even as a third-grader she was quick to learn and picked up the language right away."

Du received a degree in history and economics from the University of California, Davis, and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

She moved to Nevada after law school and joined McDonald Carano Wilson, where she made partner in 2002 specializing in employment law and civil litigation.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Follow him on Twitter @STetreaultDC.