Nusrat Choudhury was confirmed Thursday as a federal judge by the US Senate, making history as the first Muslim woman and the first Bangladeshi American to join the federal judicial bench.
The vote in the Democrat-led Senate narrowly passed along party lines.
President Joe Biden nominated the civil rights attorney in January 2022, along with seven other federal judicial nominees, who, the White House said, “continue to fulfill the President’s promise to ensure that the nation’s court reflects the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a court – both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds.” Zahid Quraishi, district judge for the District of New Jersey and the first Muslim American federal judge in US history, was also appointed by Biden and confirmed in 2021.
Choudhury will join the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, which has handled notable cases including the recent indictment of New York GOP Rep. George Santos related to fraud and money laundering.
Choudhury currently serves as a legal director for the Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, where she has pushed for police reform with a focus on litigating discriminatory practices. According to the ACLU, her work includes challenging the Milwaukee Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy and the New York Police Department’s surveillance practices post 9/11, which have been criticized as discriminatory against Muslim Americans.
