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WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden nominated Pakistani-American Zahid Quraishi as the first Muslim federal judge in the country’s history to a US District Court.
If confirmed by the Senate, Zahid Quraishi will become the first Muslim to serve in that position in New Jersey.
Biden’s 11 judicial nominees are highly diversified, including three Black women for circuit courts – the first Asian American and Pacific Islander female for US District Court for the District of Washington, D.C. and the first woman of color to serve as a federal judge for the District of Maryland.
“This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession,” Biden said. “Each is deeply qualified and prepared to deliver justice faithfully under our Constitution and impartially to the American people – and together they represent the broad diversity of background, experience, and perspective that makes our nation strong.”
Quraishi, who is of Pakistani ancestry, was also the first Muslim to serve as US Magistrate Judge for the District of New Jersey in 2019. He is also the first Asian-American to sit on the federal bench in New Jersey.
Born in New York City and raised in New Jersey, Quraishi received his bachelor’s degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 1997 and his Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School in 2000.
He served as a military prosecutor and achieved the rank of captain in the US Army Judge Advocate General Corps, deploying to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and 2006.
More recently, he was a partner at Riker Danzig where he headed the firm’s White Collar Criminal Defence and Investigations department and served as the firm’s first chief diversity officer.
He also served as an assistant US attorney in the US attorney’s office for the District of New Jersey and assistant chief counsel at the Department of Homeland Security.
Quraishi has received congratulations from several US leaders and organisations including American Pakistani Public Affairs Committee, which hailed his nomination as “history in the making”.
Biden campaigned on bringing diversity to the judicial bench and the White House is highlighting the speed of bringing forth such nominations. “The intent to nominate 11 individuals today is faster than any president in modern history,” the White House said.
Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, also made these nominations a priority, appointing more than 200 judges to the federal bench in four years. In contrast, former US president Barack Obama was criticised for a slower pace and narrower legacy in shaping the federal bench.
