She is the first Telugu woman to be appointed as a judge in the United States
Our Bureau
Sacramento, CA
Indian-American attorney Jaya Badiga, a certified family law specialist, has been appointed as a Judge in the Sacramento County Superior Court in the US state of California. She will join the Sacramento County Superior Court as one of its three newest judges.
Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, made the appointment of Badiga to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Robert S. Lapham. She has earlier served as a Commissioner at the Sacramento County Superior Court since 2022.
Badiga was born in Vijayawada city of Andhra Pradesh. She is the daughter of Badiga Ramakrishna, an industrialist and former Machilipatnam Lok Sabha MP. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and political science from Osmania University and later moved to the US to pursue further studies.
Badiga, a member of the Democrat Party, also served as an Attorney at the California Department of Health Care Services in 2020 and at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services in 2018.
She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law and a Master of Arts degree in International Relations and International Communications from Boston University. Badiga is a certified family law specialist and has worked in Family Law for more than 10 years, according to the Sacramento Country Public Law Library.
