CUA Law alumna, J. Patricia Wilson Smoot '88, was nominated by President Barack Obama as Commissioner for the United States Parole Commission of the Department of Justice. Smoot currently serves as Commissioner on the United States Parole Commission (USPC), a position she has held since Senate-confirmation in 2010. She became Vice Chairman of the USPC and ultimately Chairman in 2015. From 2002 to 2010, Smoot served as the Deputy State's Attorney for Prince George's County, Maryland. In addition to being an adviser to the State's Attorney, she is responsible for overseeing the Sex Offense and Child Abuse Unit, the Domestic Violence Unit, the Juvenile Division, and the District Court Division. From 1994 to 2002, Smoot was an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia, where she served as a line assistant before she became Deputy Chief of the Misdemeanor Trial Division and Director of Professional Development. She has served on the boards and committees of the National Black Prosecutors Association, Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Abuse, Prince George's County Criminal Justice Coordination Council, and the Prince George's County Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team. Smoot has served as a Public Defender in Prince George's County, as an associate at a tort defense litigation firm, and as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Honorable Susan R. Holmes Winfield in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia.