The United States Senate has confirmed Nusrat Jahan Choudhury, President Biden’s nominee for a federal judgeship in New York, making her the nation’s first Muslim woman to serve as a federal judge.
Choudhury, a Bangladeshi-American, will serve the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.
She was confirmed on Thursday in a 50-49 vote, with Senator Joe Manchin the only Democrat to vote against her confirmation.
Before being nominated to the bench by Biden in January 2022, Choudhury spent her entire legal career with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). She was most recently the legal director of the ACLU of Illinois.
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She previously worked with the ACLU’s racial justice programme, filing lawsuits fighting racial discrimination around the country. That included against the federal government — charging the FBI “no-fly-list” violated due process — and against the New York Police Department over alleged discriminatory practices, among others.
Choudhury’s confirmation has been lauded by Muslim-American advocacy groups. She is the second Muslim to be confirmed to the federal bench after Zahid Quraishi in 2021.
“Representation matters. Too long, Muslim women in this country have not been adequately heard by the courts, leading to decisions such as an employer allowing discrimination against women wearing hijab because of the fear their customers might be Islamophobic,” Justin Sadowsky, a trial lawyer for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement.
“Choudhury has a long history of commitment to the civil rights not only of Muslims but of all Americans,” he added.
“We welcome the confirmation of Nusrat Jahan Choudhury as a clear statement that American Muslims are part of the fabric of our society at all levels and that our judiciary is increasingly diverse,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. (THEHILL).
