Nasima Khatun
In a historic move, President of the United States, Joe Biden has nominated the first-ever Muslim woman for a federal judgeship.
On Wednesday, Nusrat Jahan Choudhury became Biden’s nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. If confirmed, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois would become the first Muslim woman to serve as a federal judge and also the first Bangladeshi-American to be graced with the honour.
Last year, Muslim Advocates wrote a letter to Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Chuck Schumer, stating that Choudhury has a “stellar reputation” for advancing the rights of minority communities and that her nomination would mark a milestone in history. And just months later, she has become one of the top nominations for the President.
The news just comes months after the first Muslim man, Zahid Quraishi, was nominated (also by Biden) to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey back in June.
Since Biden took office just over a year ago, he has worked to diversify the federal bench by making sure more women and People of Colour are represented within a predominately white male division.
According to USA Today, “62 of Biden’s federal judiciary nominees have been women, including seven of the eight new nominees. The new group includes two Black women, a Taiwanese immigrant, an Asian American, a Latina and one nominee who identifies as Asian American, Latino and white. Three nominees are civil rights lawyers, two are labour lawyers and two are public defenders.”
This round is the 13th of its kind, taking the total of judicial nominees to 83.
This is a much-needed change for the US justice system; people taking influential roles such as this one need to be representative of the society we live in and beyond that, hopefully, this move will allow more people from minority backgrounds to have a positive influence on the country.
Our sincerest congratulations to Nusrat Jahan Choudhury on the nomination!