The White House announced President Joe Biden’s first slate of judicial nominees Tuesday morning, and the list reflects Biden’s campaign promise of diversity on the judicial circuit.
“These nominees consist of attorneys who have excelled in the legal field in a wide range of positions, including as renowned jurists, public defenders, prosecutors, in the private sector, in the military, and as public servants at all levels of government,” the White House said.
The list includes three Black women tapped for Circuit Court vacancies, a candidate who would be the first Muslim American federal judge in U.S. history, the first AAPI woman to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and the first woman of color to serve as a federal judge for the District of Maryland.
Ketanji Brown Jackson was nominated for the U.S. Court of Appeals seat vacated by Merrick Garland when he became U.S. attorney general. Jackson has served as a federal trial judge for eight years and was on President Barack Obama’s short list for the Supreme Court in 2016.
Biden's district court picks include nominees who would be the:
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) March 30, 2021
- first Muslim American district judge (Judge Zahid Quraishi, NJ)
- first AAPI woman on the DC federal district court (Judge Florence Pan)
- first BIPOC woman on the Maryland district court (Judge Lydia Griggsby) pic.twitter.com/HsTB04WoPW
Biden, as a candidate, pledged to select a Black woman for the high court should a vacancy occur. Jackson, along with California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, has long been considered a leading contender for such a spot.
Also nominated on Tuesday:
- Tiffany Cunningham, nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit;
- Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit;
- Judge Deborah Boardman, nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland;
- Judge Lydia Griggsby, nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland;
- Julien Neals, nominee for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey;
- Judge Florence Y. Pan, nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia;
- Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, nominee for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey;
- Regina Rodriguez, nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Colorado;
- Margaret Strickland, nominee for the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico; and
- Judge Rupa Ranga Puttagunta, nominee for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
This story is developing.
