The U.S. will have its first Bangladeshi American and first Muslim woman federal judge after the Senate confirmed Nusrat Choudhury on Thursday.
The civil rights attorney was nominated by President Joe Biden to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in January and was confirmed to the life-tenured position with a narrow margin of 50-49 votes.
Most recently, Choudhury served as the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and, according to her online bio, has a track record of advancing criminal justice reform, immigrants rights and reproductive care access. She was previous deputy director of the ACLU Racial Justice program.
“Congratulations to Nusrat Choudhury, legal director of the ACLU of Illinois, on her confirmation to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York,” the ACLU tweeted in response to her confirmation. “Nusrat is a trailblazing civil rights lawyer and her confirmation will be an asset to our nation’s legal system.”
On Wednesday, West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin released a statement opposing Choudhury’s nomination given her support for criminal justice reform.
“Law enforcement officers in West Virginia and across the country go above and beyond the call of duty to protect our communities, and I am incredibly grateful for their service,” his statement read. “Some of Ms. Choudhury’s previous statements call into question her ability to be unbiased towards the work of our brave law enforcement.”
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