President Obama has nominated a sentencing expert to the District's federal bench and selected a prosecutor to serve as a D.C. Superior Court judge, the White House said Thursday.

Obama picked Ketanji Brown Jackson for a U.S. District Court judgeship. Jackson has been a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission since 2010, and she's currently the panel's vice chairwoman. She previously worked as a federal public defender in D.C., served as a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and worked in private practice.

Jackson is a graduate of Harvard Law School and was the supervising editor of the school's law review.

In a statement, Obama said he was confident Jackson would "serve the American people with integrity and a steadfast commitment to justice."

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Robert Okun was nominated to become a D.C. Superior Court judge. Okun is a longtime federal prosecutor in the District and runs the U.S. attorney's special proceedings division. He also was an executive assistant U.S. attorney for operations and was a civil trial lawyer for the federal government.

He is also a graduate of Harvard Law School.

"Throughout his career, Robert Okun has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to justice," Obama said. "I am proud to nominate him to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia."

The Senate must approve both nominations.

ablinder@washingtonexaminer.com