A Pakistani-American Will Be First Muslim US Federal Judge
Washington, DC: Pakistani-American Zahid Quraishi has become the first Muslim in US history to have been nominated for the position of a federal judge by US President Joe Biden.
If confirmed, Quraishi will be the first Muslim American to serve as a federal district judge.
President Biden nominated judge Quraishi to be a federal judge on the US District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Mr Biden's first 11 judicial nominees include three black women chosen for circuit court vacancies, the first Asian American woman to serve on the US District Court for the District of Columbia, and the first woman of colour 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,” Mr 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.”
Mr Quraishi, the first Muslim nominee for a federal district judge position, was also the first Muslim to become the magistrate judge for the District of New Jersey, Trenton vicinage, on June 3, 2019.
Mr Quraishi, who is of Pakistani ancestry, is also the first Asian American to sit on the federal bench in New Jersey.
A Rutgers Law School graduate, Mr Quraishi served as a military prosecutor and achieved the rank of captain in the US Army Judge Advocate General Corps. He was sent to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004 and 2006, the White House said.
More recently, he was a partner at Riker Danzig where he led 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.
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