10 Champions of Justice That Exemplify The Importance Of Judicial Nominations

Regardless of the outcome of any one election, justice-centered courts are vital to protecting our democracy. The only way to bring balance to the federal judiciary is for the Senate to confirm equal justice champions right now, making room for it to act on many more between now and 2025.  

Following the 2022 elections, AFJ led the charge to urge the Senate to prioritize confirmations upon the Senate’s return in November, and succeeded in getting five new judges confirmed.  

The pending nominees profiled below are examples of equal justice champions still awaiting final votes. These nominees, and the many more like them pending, have backgrounds our democracy needs represented on the bench immediately. They are long overdue for a final vote

For more information on pending federal judicial nominees and vacancies, check out Alliance for Justice’s Judicial Nomination Tracker, with information on all of President Biden’s confirmed and pending nominees to federal district and circuit courts.

Pending

Dale Ho

Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Historic nominee

Nominated September 20, 2021 (appeared in committee December 1, 2021)

As one of the nation’s premier civil rights attorneys, Dale Ho has spent his career fighting for our most critical constitutional rights and legal protections and is eminently qualified to serve as a federal judge.

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Natasha Merle

Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Civil rights champion

Nominated January 19, 2022 (appeared in committee April 27, 2022)

Natasha Merle is a civil rights champion who has dedicated the majority of her legal career to public interest law and public defense, having served as the Deputy Director of Litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and as an assistant federal public defender. Judges with such civil rights backgrounds remain severely underrepresented on our courts, making Merle a significant and historic nominee.

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Tiffany M. Cartwright

Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Civil rights & workers’ rights champion

Nominated January 19, 2022 (appeared in committee May 25, 2022)

Tiffany M. Cartwright is a partner at MacDonald Hoague & Bayless. She has notably dedicated her career to civil rights litigation — in particular, cases in which the state government has unlawfully burdened citizens for exercising their constitutional rights, as well as employment discrimination and wrongful conviction cases.

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Rachel Bloomekatz

Nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Economic justice and voting rights champion

Nominated May 25, 2022 (appeared in committee June 22, 2022)

Rachel Bloomekatz has briefed and argued cases on a broad range of issues, including voting rights, consumers’ and workers’ rights, and gun safety. Bloomekatz’s previous private and public sector roles include serving as a clerk to former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

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Julie Rikelman

Nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Reproductive rights champion

Nominated August 1, 2022 (appeared in committee September 21, 2022)

The current U.S. Litigation Director for the Center for Reproductive Rights, Julie Rikelman is a veteran civil rights litigator known for her work protecting reproductive rights in state and federal courts throughout the country. She also spent a decade in various corporate litigation practices.

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Casey Pitts

Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Workers’ rights champion and historic nominee

Nominated September 2, 2022 (appeared in committee December 13, 2022)

Casey Pitts has spent most of his career litigating complex labor law cases including employment discrimination actions and cases to establish and preserve collective bargaining for workers. Should he be confirmed, he would be the only openly LGBTQ+ Article III judge actively serving on the District Court for the Northern District of California.

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Headshot of Casey Pitts

Judge Myong Joun

Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Civil rights champion and former public defender

Nominated July 29, 2022 (appeared in committee December 13, 2022)

Judge Joun, a veteran and immigrant who has dedicated his career to criminal defense and civil rights, is currently an Associate Justice of the Boston Municipal Court.

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Nusrat Choudhury

Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Civil rights champion and historic nominee

Nominated January 19, 2022 (appeared in committee April 27, 2022)

A dedicated civil rights and civil liberties attorney, Ms. Choudhury has spent her career advocating for equal justice under the law. If confirmed, Ms. Choudhury will become the first Muslim-American woman and the first Bangladeshi American to serve as a federal judge.

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Confirmed

Adrienne Nelson

Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

Historic nominee and former public defender

Nominated July 14, 2022 (appeared in committee October 12, 2022)

CONFIRMED on February 15, 2023

Adrienne Nelson previously served on the Supreme Court of the State of Oregon and has extensive experience in public defense and on the bench. When confirmed on February 15, 2023, she became the first Black woman to serve in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.

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Jamal Whitehead

Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

Workers’ rights champion

First nominee with a disability nominated by President Biden

Nominated July 13, 2022 (appeared in committee September 21, 2022)

CONFIRMED on February 28, 2023

Jamal N. Whitehead was previously a trial attorney at Schroeter Goldmark & Bender, where he regularly represented victims of workplace discrimination and unfair labor practices. Whitehead, who uses a prosthetic leg, is the first person with a disability nominated to the federal bench by President Biden. He was confirmed on February 28, 2023.

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Araceli Martinez-Olguin

Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Historic nominee

Nominated July 29, 2022 (appeared in committee October 12, 2022)

CONFIRMED on February 28, 2023

Araceli Martinez-Olguin served as one of the nation’s leading immigration attorneys, having spent her entire career advocating for rights of immigrant workers. When she was confirmed on February 28, 2023, Martinez-Olguin would be only the second Latina to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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Bradley Garcia

Nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Historic nominee

Nominated June 15, 2022 (appeared in committee July 27, 2022)

CONFIRMED on May 15, 2023

After a long wait, Bradley N. Garcia was confirmed to what is often dubbed “the second highest court in the country”, after the Supreme Court. He has served as an appellate litigator in over 50 cases, including significant pro bono work. He is the first Latinx judge to sit on this court since it was established in 1893.

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Bradley Garcia at his Senate Judiciary hearing

Nancy G. Abudu

Nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Voting rights champion and historic nominee

Nominated December 23, 2021 (appeared in committee April 27, 2022)

CONFIRMED May 18, 2023

Nancy Gbana Abudu’s work as a civil rights litigator, focusing on the Voting Rights Act, felon disenfranchisement, and other key issues, has touched every state in the Eleventh Circuit. Upon her confirmation 511 days after she was nominated, she is now the first Black woman on the Circuit and the first person of color from Georgia to serve on that court.

Image via Southern Poverty Law Center

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