Melanie Penny Ochoa

Melanie Penny Ochoa was appointed to serve as a judge in the Los Angeles County Superior Court by Governor Gavin Newsom on December 7, 2023. Prior to her appointment, she was the Director of Police Practices at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California, where she had worked as a staff attorney since 2016. Before joining the ACLU, she was an associate at O'Melveny & Myers LLP from 2012 to 2016. She also served as a law clerk for the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2011 to 2012. Ochoa earned her Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, and also holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Sociology and Social Policy from Harvard University. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University.