Tiffany Cartwright

Tiffany Mae Cartwright (born 1985)

Early life and education

Cartwright was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Kitsap County. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University in 2007, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 2010, where she was a member of the Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. During law school, Cartwright worked at the federal public defender office in Seattle and at the United States Department of Justice Public Integrity Unit. From 2012 to 2014, she was an associate at Jenner & Block in Chicago. In 2014, she joined the law firm MacDonald Hoague & Bayless in Seattle, became a partner in 2018 until she was commissioned as a federal judge.

Notable cases

In 2017, Cartwright represented the family of Leonard Thomas in connection with claims that he had been wrongfully killed by the Lakewood police department. Following trial, a jury sided with Thomas and awarded Thomas's family $15 million in damages.

In 2020, Cartwright represented the family of 17 year-old MiChance Dunlap-Gittens, who was killed by King County police in a case of mistaken identity, and won a $2.25 million settlement.

Cartwright represented several exonerees: a group of men in Fairbanks, Alaska, known as The Fairbanks Four, who spent seventeen years in prison before their exoneration for murder in 2015;

Federal judicial service

On January 19, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Cartwright to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. The nomination came as part of the Biden administration's larger push to nominate judges with diverse backgrounds and identities. President Biden nominated Cartwright to the seat vacated by Judge Benjamin Settle, who assumed senior status on January 1, 2020. At the time she was nominated she was President Biden's youngest judicial nominee, but between her initial nomination and confirmation she was surpassed by Brad Garcia (D.C. Cir.) and Jamar K. Walker (E.D. Va.).

On May 25, 2022, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On June 16, 2022, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. In addition to all Democrats on the committee, Cartwright received the support of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the Senate; she was renominated later the same day. On February 2, 2023, her nomination was reported out of the committee by an 11–9 vote. On July 11, 2023, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 49–42 vote. On July 12, 2023, her nomination was confirmed by a 50–47 vote. She received her judicial commission on July 18, 2023. She was sworn in on August 30, 2023.