Quietly the Democratic President fill’s in the blanks with diversity and even lawyers with military experience ….
“Today, the President’s nominees include a U.S. Navy Reserve Captain and Navy Reserve Lieutenant Commander, a Korean-American state court judge – and if confirmed – the first Hispanic person to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota,” Zients continued.
Judge Eumi Lee, a Korean American superior court judge in California, is being nominated for the federal trial court for the state’s Northern District. Minnesota state Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey Bryan, who is Hispanic, is Biden’s choice for Minnesota’s US district court.
For a Kansas seat on the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit – a Denver-based appeals court that covers states in the Midwest and West – Biden is nominating Rich Federico, a Kansas federal public defender who is the latest example of Biden seeking to break what was once the ex-prosecutor or corporate lawyer mold for judicial nominees.
As part of Biden’s commitment to bringing more professional diversity to the judiciary, the White House is also touting Lee’s time teaching at University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly the University of California, Hastings College of the Law) where she was focused on access to justice and criminal justice reform issues.
Biden has selected for the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit – a Chicago-based appeals court covering parts of the upper Midwest – US Magistrate Judge Joshua Kolar, who also serves as a lieutenant commander in the US Navy Reserve. Federico, the 10th Circuit nominee, likewise has a military background, serving as a captain in the US Navy Reserve.