Ritu Jha–
California Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed two Indian Americans to key positions. Ami Sheth Sagel will be Orange County Superior Court judge while Jaydeep Singh Bhatia has been appointed Chief Policy Coordinator, Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce at the Department of Cannabis Control.
Sagel has been a sole practitioner since 2015. She served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California from 2009 to 2015. Sagel was an Associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP from 2006 to 2009. She earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School. Sagel fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Claudia Silbar.
Sagel will be the second Indian American to serve as the Orange County Superior Court Judge. In 2021, Governor Newsom appointed Vibhav Mittal.
Bhatia, meanwhile, has been Homeland Security Policy Coordinator at the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services since 2022.
He was an Intelligence Analyst for the State Threat Assessment Center from 2018 to 2022. He was a Policy Specialist and Executive Fellow for the California Department of Food and Agriculture from 2016 to 2018.
Bhatia earned a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from California State University, Chico and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from California State University, Stanislaus.
This position does not require Senate confirmation and the annual compensation is $130,008.
