U.S. Senate Confirms First Muslim Woman Federal Judge

The U.S. Senate confirmed Nusrat Choudhury on Thursday, June 15th. The U.S. now has its first Bangladeshi American and first Muslim woman federal judge.

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.

While we celebrate the achievements of all American Muslims in politics, we would like to emphasize the importance of upholding our faith’s values and not compromising them for political gains.