Diverse Voices: Cherokee Sara Hill Nominated to Become U.S. District Judge
Photo of Sara Hill courtesy of Cherokee Nation
By Clyde Hughes | AC JosepH Media
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, Oct. 18, the Biden Administration announced that it planned to nominate Sara Hill, of the Cherokee Nation, for U.S. district judge in the Northern District of Oklahoma.
If confirmed, Hill would become the first American Indian or Alaska Native woman to serve as a federal judge in Oklahoma, and the seventh actively serving as a federal district court judge in the United States.
In a White House press statement, the administration said Hill served as Attorney General of the Cherokee Nation from 2019 to 2023. She is currently a lawyer in private practice. Hill previously served the Cherokee Nation as Secretary of Natural Resources from 2015 to 2019, Deputy Attorney General from 2014 to 2015, and an Assistant Attorney General from 2004 to 2014.
“The Cherokee Nation could not be more proud of former Cherokee Nation Attorney General Sara Hill, who will make an excellent federal judge,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said in a statement posted by the Cherokee Phoenix.
“Deputy Chief (Bryan Warner) and I are so pleased that President Biden announced today that she is among his nominees and call for her prompt confirmation by the U.S. Senate.”
From 2014 to 2015, Hill served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Ms. Hill received her J.D. from the University of Tulsa in 2003 and her B.A., cum laude, from Northeastern State University in 2000.
Hill has had a long career in civil service, including as the Attorney General and the Secretary of Natural Resources for the Cherokee Nation. She has litigated at all levels of state and federal court on a diverse range of issues including the Nation’s treaty rights and the preservation of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
“NCAI strongly supports President Biden’s nomination of Sara Hill, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, to be the first-ever Native American woman to sit on the federal bench in the state of Oklahoma,” said National Congress of American Indians Executive Director Larry Wright, Jr. said in a statement from the organization.
“Sara Hill will bring unparalleled experience in law and policy to our justice system. NCAI urges the swift confirmation of Ms. Hill as the nomination moves before the U.S. Senate.”
Native American Rights Fund Executive Director John Echohawk said Hill has a strong history of public service and possesses excellent qualifications to be a federal judge.
“We applaud the Biden Administration’s selection of this historic nominee and urge her confirmation. She will be a strong addition to the federal judiciary in Oklahoma.”
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