After spending 15 years as an Assistant State’s Attorney, including a three-year detail to the United States Attorney’s Office, and reaching the rank of Deputy Division Chief of the Gun Violence Enforcement Division, Judge Celeste moved to the Office of Bar Counsel where she held attorneys accountable for engaging in ethics violations.

Judge Celeste then joined the Office of Chief Counsel to U.S. Customs and Border Protection where she represented the Agency in employment litigation.

Judge Celeste has extensive civil and criminal trial experience.

Judge Celeste spent five years training and supervising Assistant State’s Attorneys handling non-fatal shooting and violent crime cases.  She was responsible for approving arrest warrants for non-fatal shooting cases and reviewing search warrants for probable cause.

From 2018 to 2021, Judge Celeste represented citizens across the State whose attorneys violated ethics rules.  She handled all phases of litigation of attorney misconduct cases including propounding and responding to discovery, taking and defending depositions, trying cases in circuit courts across the State, and arguing cases before the Court of Appeals.

Judge Celeste has excellent interpersonal skills. She exhibits understanding and professionalism in her frequent interactions with members of the public. Judge Celeste is comfortable in the courtroom, having spent 20 years as a trial attorney. Judge Celeste believes that an effective judge knows the law and applies it fairly, allows the parties a full opportunity to be heard, and treats everyone before her with respect. Judge Celeste strives daily to be the kind of judge that litigants and attorneys want to appear before because they know they will receive fair and impartial justice.

A graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law, Judge Celeste served as a notes and comments editor to the Maryland Law Review.

She is actively involved in the Anne Arundel County Bar Association, the Maryland State Bar Association (where she serves on the Criminal Law & Practice Section Council and is a member of the Maryland Bar Foundation), and the James C. Cawood, Jr. American Inn of Court.

Judge Celeste is a member of the bar of the State of Maryland, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.

Judge Celeste and her husband, John, have two daughters, Sophia and Francesca, and a beagle named Nemo.