Who appointed Dana Makoto Sabraw?

President George W. Bush appointed Dana Makoto Sabraw to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in 2003.

Was Dana Makoto Sabraw appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Dana Makoto Sabraw was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Dana Makoto Sabraw's confirmation vote?

The Senate confirmed Dana Makoto Sabraw 95–0 on September 25, 2003.

Southern District of California / Appointed 2003 / Active

Dana Makoto Sabraw

Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003 and confirmed by the Senate 95–0, Dana Makoto Sabraw is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. He earned a law degree from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1985. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓

Born: 1958 · age 68
Appointed by: George W. Bush, 2003
Confirmed: 95–0
Education: San Diego State 1980 · University of the Pacific, McGeorge Law 1985

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
2003	Southern District of California	G.W. Bush (R)	95–0

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own.

Confirmation vote

Nomination Confirmed 95–0 on September 25, 2003 · 108th Congress, Roll Call 366. Each senator links to their judicial-voting record.

Voted to confirm · 95

44 D, 50 R, 1 I

Did not vote · 5

4 D, 1 R

Education

American River Junior College	A.A.	1978
San Diego State University	B.S.	1980
University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law	J.D.	1985

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, Sabraw was assigned 3,904 district-court cases (1985–2026). Median time from filing to termination: 170 days across 3,434 closed cases.

Prisoner & habeas20%

Other civil matters17%

Other federal statutes13%

Civil rights12%

Contract8%

Intellectual property6%

Other24%

Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.

On appeal

Of 266 of Sabraw’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 190 were affirmed, 51 reversed or vacated, and 25 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.

In our data, Sabraw authored 24 published opinions for the court (2004–2011). Most cited: Laster v. T-MOBILE USA, INC. (52 citations).

A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.

Recent & notable rulings

Year	Case	Citation	Cited
2005	Laster v. T-MOBILE USA, INC.	407 F. Supp. 2d 1181	52
2005	Watson v. Chessman	362 F. Supp. 2d 1190	20
2009	In Re Countrywide Financial Corp. Mortg. Marketing	601 F. Supp. 2d 1201	17
2005	Lewis v. Mitchell	416 F. Supp. 2d 935	17
2005	Speyer v. Avis Rent a Car System, Inc.	415 F. Supp. 2d 1090	10
2008	Ortega v. Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.	572 F. Supp. 2d 1218	9
2006	Kogan Ex Rel. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Robinson	432 F. Supp. 2d 1075	8
2006	Iasu v. Chertoff	426 F. Supp. 2d 1124	5
2009	McGrew v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc.	628 F. Supp. 2d 1237	4
2004	Mubarak v. California Department of Corrections	315 F. Supp. 2d 1057	4
2011	DELA CRUZ v. Napolitano	764 F. Supp. 2d 1197	2
2010	Lorenzo v. United States	719 F. Supp. 2d 1208	2
2005	LG Infocomm U.S.A., Inc. v. Euler American Credit Indemnity Co.	419 F. Supp. 2d 1248	2
2006	Cass v. Woodford	432 F. Supp. 2d 1061	1
2006	Avratin v. Bermudez	420 F. Supp. 2d 1121	1

Showing the 15 most-cited of 24 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.

Questions & answers

Who appointed Dana Makoto Sabraw?: President George W. Bush appointed Dana Makoto Sabraw to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in 2003.
Was Dana Makoto Sabraw appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Dana Makoto Sabraw was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Dana Makoto Sabraw's confirmation vote?: The Senate confirmed Dana Makoto Sabraw 95–0 on September 25, 2003.
Which court is Dana Makoto Sabraw on?: Dana Makoto Sabraw is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.

22 years on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).