WHAT: Investiture of Marisa J. Demeo as Associate Judge of    the Superior Court of the District of Columbia 
 
WHERE: Third Floor Atrium, Moultrie Courthouse –500 Indiana Ave, NW 
 
WHEN: Friday, July 23, 2010 at 4:00 pm 
 
WHO:  Chief Judge Lee F. Satterfield Maria Blanco, Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity,   University of California, Berkeley School of Law   Biography:  In March of 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Marisa J. Demeo to be an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.  The Senate confirmed her nomination, and she was sworn in on May 10, 2010. 
 
Judge Demeo graduated from Princeton University in 1988, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics with a concentration in Latin American Studies.  In 1993, she received her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law (NYU), where she served on the Law Review.  At NYU, Judge Demeo was selected as a Root-Tilden Scholar for her academic achievement and commitment to public interest. 
 
After graduating from law school, Judge Demeo served with distinction as an Honors Program trial attorney in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, where she prosecuted public employers for pattern or practice employment discrimination in federal courts around the country and received two awards for her work.  In 1997, she began working for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), a national Latino civil rights organization.  After a short period as a staff attorney, Judge Demeo was promoted to head the MALDEF DC office, where she served as the national advocate for MALDEF on a wide array of Latino civil rights issues.  During her MALDEF tenure, she received numerous community service and leadership awards, including from the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia, the Congressional Black Caucus, NYU School of Law, the National Puerto Rican Coalition, and the US Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau. 
 
In 2004, Judge Demeo joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (USAO), where she served in the Misdemeanor Trial Section, the Felony Trial Section, the Grand Jury Section, and the Sex Offense/Domestic Violence Trial Section.  During her time at the USAO, Judge Demeo handled 45 criminal trials and presented over 30 felony cases to the grand jury, which were indicted.  She received two awards for her work at the USAO. 
 
In 2007, Judge Demeo was appointed as a Magistrate Judge.  From August of 2007 through 2009, she served as a criminal trial judge and presided over 120 trials involving criminal traffic and minor misdemeanor charges.  In 2010, before becoming an Associate Judge, she handled over 300 preliminary and detention hearings for misdemeanor and felony cases. 
 
Judge Demeo has taught as an Adjunct Professor at Howard University School of Law, where she taught criminal procedure as well as immigration law.  She was previously appointed by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to serve on the District of Columbia Access to Justice Commission.