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Washington • After an eight-month wait, Utah Supreme Court Justice Jill Parrish was confirmed Thursday by the Senate as a federal judge for the Utah district.
The Senate voted unanimously to approve Parrish's nomination, first announced by the White House in September but held up in the long slog of appointments on the Senate's docket and a partisan fight over judicial nominees.
Parrish, first appointed to the state high court by then-Gov. Mike Leavitt in 2003, will be the second female judge on the federal court in the state, joining Judge Tena Campbell.
Parrish's nomination faced no public opposition and Sen. Orrin Hatch, a former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said Parrish's confirmation was a "great honor for Utah."
"She has a tremendous record of excellence both before and behind the bench, in state and federal court, in the private and public sectors, and in both trial and appellate courts," Hatch said in a statement. "She has distinguished herself over her 12 years in the Utah Supreme Court, and 30 years in the legal profession, and will be a tremendous asset to the federal bench."
Parrish's nomination had waited so long for confirmation that it expired at the end of the Senate's 2014 session. President Barack Obama re-nominated Parrish in January and the Senate Judiciary Committee gave her unanimous approval in February but a full Senate vote was pushed off.
In fact, Parrish had to wait one more day than planned after her confirmation was bumped Wednesday by Sen. Rand Paul's 10-hour lecture on domestic snooping by the National Security Agency.
Parrish will replace Judge Dee Benson, who has taken senior status, which means he can hear fewer cases.
Sen. Mike Lee, whose brother Tom sits on the Utah Supreme Court with Parrish, praised the new federal judge for her distinguished career as an "extraordinary" prosecutor, as a litigator in private practice and on the bench.
"I can think of no one better to replace Judge Benson than Justice Parrish," Lee added on the Senate floor. "She's a friend, she's a respected jurist, she's a dedicated citizen."
Before taking a spot on the state Supreme Court, Parrish, an Ogden native, attended Yale Law School, practiced commercial litigation at the Salt Lake City law firm of Parr, Brown, Gee & Loveless and clerked for then-federal Judge David K. Winder. Parrish also served as an assistant U.S. attorney, where she supervised the financial-litigation unit, and is a past president of the Utah chapter of the Federal Bar Association.