Sparkle Sooknanan is a Democrat, appointed by Biden.A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's effort to use a centralized database of Americans' personal information to purge voter rolls, ruling that the initiative unlawfully "trampled" on citizen privacy rights. [1, 2]
Court Rulings and Privacy Violations
- Database Injunction: U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle Sooknanan struck down the administration's expanded use of the SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) program, which the administration overhauled to aggregate millions of Americans' sensitive data. [1, 2]
- Statutory Breaches: The judge found the system violated the federal Privacy Act, the Social Security Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. The government bypassed public notice requirements and illegally shared Social Security numbers and related records. [1, 2]
The Supreme court can overturn her ruling.