Newsom Appoints Fired U.S. Attorney to Sacramento Bench

Governor Gavin Newsom named Michele Beckwith, a former acting U.S. Attorney fired by the Trump administration in July, to the Sacramento County Superior Court.

Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in People

Newsom Appoints Fired U.S. Attorney to Sacramento Bench

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Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Michele Beckwith, a Democrat, to fill a vacancy on the Sacramento County Superior Court bench. Beckwith was fired in July 2025 as acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California after she warned Border Patrol about a federal court order ahead of a Sacramento immigration raid.

Why it matters

The appointment places a prosecutor who was removed amid a dispute over immigration enforcement onto a local court serving Sacramento County. It also fills a seat left open when Judge Lauri Damrell was elevated to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Beckwith spent 15 years at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California, a district covering about 8 million residents. Newsom announced 23 Superior Court appointments last week, five of them in Sacramento.

The players

Gavin Newsom

Gavin Newsom is the Governor of California, a Democrat who has frequently clashed with the Trump administration over immigration and federal policy.

Michele Beckwith

Michele Beckwith is a Democratic former federal prosecutor who previously served as Yolo County's county attorney before her federal career.

Gregory Bovino

Gregory Bovino is a U.S. Border Patrol official who led large-scale immigration enforcement operations in several American cities.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump is the current President of the United States, whose administration removed Beckwith from her federal post in July 2025.

The details

Beckwith joined the U.S. Attorney's Office as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in 2010, became Criminal Division Chief in 2019 and First Assistant in 2022, and took over as acting U.S. Attorney in January 2025 after Phillip Talbert resigned. In July 2025 she warned Border Patrol's Gregory Bovino that a federal court order barred indiscriminate stops in the district; hours later her phone and computer were disconnected and she was notified of her firing by an assistant to President Donald Trump.

January 2025: Beckwith became acting U.S. Attorney after Phillip Talbert resigned.
July 14, 2025: Bovino called Beckwith to say Border Patrol was coming to Sacramento.
July 17, 2025: A Border Patrol raid occurred at a South Sacramento Home Depot.
August 2025: Judge Lauri Damrell was elevated to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
November 6, 2026: Newsom announced Beckwith's appointment to the Sacramento County Superior Court.

Legal Context

Beckwith's firing followed her warning to Border Patrol about a federal court order limiting indiscriminate stops during the July 17, 2025 Florin Road Home Depot raid in South Sacramento. Her appointment to the Sacramento County Superior Court, filling Judge Lauri Damrell's seat, returns her to the state bench at a time when federal immigration enforcement in the region remains contested.

Sacramento County residents will have a new Superior Court judge handling local civil and criminal matters once Beckwith takes the bench. The appointment fills a vacancy created when Judge Lauri Damrell moved to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

The takeaway

Judicial appointments can reshape how local courts handle cases tied to federal enforcement, and the background of appointees often shapes public perception of those decisions. Readers following Sacramento courts can track future appointments as they are announced.