In 2009, President Obama nominated Marisa J. Demeo to become an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Senate confirmed her nomination in 2010. She currently serves as the Presiding Judge of the Criminal Division and a trial judge handling murders and sexual assaults. She has served as the Deputy Presiding Judge of the Probate and Tax Divisions. She also has served as a trial judge in the Civil Division and the Domestic Violence Division. Judge Demeo also served as the Vice Chairperson and Chairperson of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia Judicial Council.
Judge Demeo graduated from Princeton University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics with a concentration in Latin American Studies. She currently serves on the Princeton University Board of Trustees. She received her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law (NYU), where she served on the Law Review. At NYU, Ms. 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 as an Honors Program trial attorney in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Subsequently, she headed the D.C. national policy office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), a national Latino civil rights organization. Judge Demeo later joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia as an Assistant United States Attorney. In 2007, Judge Demeo was appointed as a Magistrate Judge, where she served until her confirmation as an Associate Judge.
Judge Demeo previously taught a course on problem solving courts at Georgetown University School of Law. She also taught criminal procedure and immigration law at Howard University School of Law.