Career federal prosecutor Brenda Sannes has been nominated by President Barack Obama for a Syracuse-based U.S. judgeship. If confirmed by the Senate, Sannes, 55, would fill the position that opened when Judge Norman Mordue took senior status last June.

Sannes would join Rosemary Pooler, now of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and Albany-based Judge Mae D’Agostino as the only women who have served in the 100-year history of the court.