Irma Elsa Gonzalez

Irma Elsa Gonzalez
Gonzalez in 2014
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California
In office
March 29, 2013 – October 25, 2013
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California
In office
2005–2012
Preceded byMarilyn L. Huff
Succeeded byBarry Ted Moskowitz
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California
In office
August 12, 1992 – March 29, 2013
Appointed byGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byJ. Lawrence Irving
Succeeded byCynthia Bashant
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California
In office
1984–1991
Personal details
Born (1948-03-29) March 29, 1948 (age 76)
Palo Alto, California
EducationStanford University (BA)
James E. Rogers College of Law (JD)

Irma Elsa Gonzalez (born March 29, 1948) is a retired United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, who was the first Mexican-American female federal judge.[1] She is married to former federal prosecutor and trial attorney Robert S. Brewer Jr. who served as the U.S. attorney for Southern California from 2019 to 2021.

She was an assistant United States attorney of the Criminal Division for the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of Arizona from 1975 to 1979. She was a trial attorney of the Antitrust Division of U.S. Department of Justice in Los Angeles in 1979. She was an assistant United States attorney of the Criminal Division for the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Central District of California from 1979 to 1981. She was in private practice of law in San Diego, California from 1981 to 1984. She was a judge on the San Diego County Superior Court from 1991 to 1992.

Gonzalez was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Gonzalez was nominated by President George H. W. Bush on April 9, 1992, to a seat vacated by Judge J. Lawrence Irving. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 11, 1992, and received commission on August 12, 1992. Served as chief judge from 2005–2012.