Biden’s Latest Slate Features First Judicial Nominee in Tennessee

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 17, 2021 – This afternoon the White House announced the nominations of two additional outstanding nominees to the nation’s federal courts. Both nominees are incredibly qualified and would bring historic diversity to their respective courts, and one is President Biden’s first nominee from a state with two Republican senators. 

Judge Allison Nathan has been nominated to the United States Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit in New York. She has already spent ten years serving as a federal district court judge in the Southern District of New York. If confirmed, she will be only the second openly lesbian woman to serve as a federal appeals court judge, following the historic confirmation of Judge Beth Robinson, who was confirmed just weeks ago. 

Andre Mathis has been nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from Tennessee. Though more than 17% of Tennessee residents are Black, no Black man has ever represented Tennessee on the Sixth Circuit. It has been 24 years since a Black man was confirmed to the entire Sixth Circuit. Mr. Mathis would be the first since then, and only the second Black judge from Tennessee ever. 

Alliance for Justice President Rakim H.D. Brooks issued the following statement: 

“Today’s nominations again underscore the Biden administration’s commitment to rebalancing the federal judiciary through the appointment of diverse and highly qualified legal professionals. Judge Nathan and Mr. Mathis are extraordinary nominees, and they deserve to be confirmed. Now we will wait and see if what is so obvious to us is obvious to every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  

“We at Alliance for Justice are especially interested in how Senators Blackburn and Haggerty take up Mr. Mathis’s nomination. He is a historic pick deserving of their full support. We sincerely hope that both Senators put the interests of their constituents above partisan considerations and support Mr. Mathis’s confirmation.”