[3] She previously served as a judge of the California Superior Court for Riverside County from 2013 to 2022.

Sykes was born on the Navajo Nation Reservation in Tuba City, Arizona, and was raised in Gallup, New Mexico.

[4] From 2001 to 2003, Sykes worked as a staff attorney for California Indian Legal Services.

In 2013, she was nominated by then-Governor Jerry Brown to serve as a judge on the Riverside County Superior Court.

Presiden Biden nominated Sykes to the seat vacated by Judge James V. Selna, who assumed senior status on March 3, 2020.