Judge Emmet Sullivan, 61, was appointed to the bench by presidents of both parties.

President Ronald Reagan first named Sullivan to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in 1984. President George H.W. Bush appointed him to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in 1991, and President Bill Clinton named him to the federal bench in 1994.

A native of Washington, D.C., Sullivan has an undergraduate and a law degree from Howard University. He married his high school sweetheart and has two children and two grandchildren.