Cristina D. Silva


Cristina Dionne Silva is a United States district judge of the United States [District Court for the District of Nevada].

Education

Silva received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Wellesley College in 2001. She received her Juris Doctor degree from the Washington College of Law in 2007.

Career

From 2007 until 2010, Silva worked as an assistant state attorney in the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, serving as assistant chief of litigation for the domestic violence unit in 2010. From 2011 to 2019, she served as an Assistant [United States Attorney] in the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada. She was deputy chief of the criminal division from 2013 to 2018 and chief of the criminal division from 2018 to 2019. During her time as a federal prosecutor, Silva assisted with the criminal investigation into the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that killed 58 people in the initial shooting and injured about 500 others. In the years after, two more victims have died of shooting-related injuries.
From 2019 to 2022, Silva served as a judge on the Eighth Judicial District Court, Department IX, in Clark County after being appointed by Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak.

Federal judicial service

On November 3, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Silva to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. President Biden nominated Silva to the seat vacated by Judge James C. Mahan, who assumed senior status on June 29, 2018. On December 15, 2021, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On January 3, 2022, her nomination was returned to the President under Standing Rules of [the United States Senate, Rule XXXI|Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6] of the United States Senate; she was later renominated the same day. On January 20, 2022, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. On March 16, 2022, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 53–44 vote. On March 23, 2022, her nomination was confirmed by a 50–46 vote. She received her judicial commission on April 7, 2022.