Dale Drozd Nominated to Federal Bench

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – President Obama nominated Chief Magistrate Judge Dale A. Drozd to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.     If confirmed by the Senate, Drozd, 59, will fill the seat left vacant since Oct. 31, 2012, when Judge Anthony Ishii assumed senior status.     Drozd has been a magistrate judge for the Eastern District of California since 1997 and its chief magistrate judge since 2011. He was in private practice from 1982 until he became a judge.     Drozd got his bachelor’s degree from Cal State San Diego in 1977 and his J.D. from UCLA in 1980.     The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, which has courthouses in Sacramento and Fresno, is authorized six judgeships and has one vacancy. It received 5,414 new filings in calendar year 2013 – more than 1,000 per judge.