[2][3] Dalton attended Cardinal Spellman High School, graduating in June 1968.
[4] On November 9, 2005, President George W. Bush nominated her to be an associate judge on the same court.
Her nomination expired on December 9, 2006, with the end of the 109th United States Congress.
[5] President George W. Bush renominated her on January 9, 2007, to a 15-year term as an associate judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to the seat vacated by Noël A. Kramer.
On July 23, 2008, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a hearing on her nomination.