US President Joe Biden will nominate the first Muslim-American woman to serve as a federal judge, the White House announced Wednesday as he continues his push to diversify the federal judiciary.
Nusrat Jahan Choudhury has served as legal director for the Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union advocacy group since 2020 and has worked with the union in various capacities since 2008. She is a graduate of Yale Law School and received her bachelor’s degree from Columbia University.
Should Choudhury receive Senate confirmation she would become not only the first Muslim-American woman to serve on the federal bench but also the first Bangladeshi-American, the White House said in a statement.
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She would also be the second Muslim-American federal judge.
Choudhury currently serves as the legal director of the Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a civil rights advocacy group. She previously worked in various capacities at the organisation, including as deputy director of the ACLU’s racial justice programme in New York.
She has been involved in numerous civil rights cases, including lawsuits challenging the federal government’s No Fly List and the New York Police Department’s surveillance of the city’s Muslim community.
BREAKING: President Biden nominated Nusrat Choudhury to be a federal judge! We're proud to have supported her because:
👉🏾 She has dedicated her career to defending civil rights
👉🏾 She would be the 1st Muslim woman and Bangladeshi-American federal judge https://t.co/7VnOGbMlIY— Muslim Advocates (@MuslimAdvocates) January 19, 2022
In September 2021, Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer formally recommended Choudhury to serve on the federal bench in New York, calling her an “expert in civil rights and liberties”.
Muslim Advocates, a Muslim-American advocacy group, had urged Schumer and his fellow New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to push for Choudhury’s nomination earlier that year.
Her nomination is part of eight nominees being proposed by Biden, the 13th tranche since the president assumed office in January 2021. Biden has now nominated 83 federal judges.
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Other nominees include Judge Ana Isabel de Alba, who would be the first Latina to serve on the Eastern District of California and the second-ever Latino judge on that court. Judge Nina Nin-Yuen Wang would be just the second Asian-American to serve on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.
Anadolu with additional input by GVS News Desk