Nusrat Jahan Choudhury ( bn, নুসরাত জাহান চৌধুরী; born 1976) is a
Bangladeshi American
Bangladeshi Americans ( bn, বাংলাদেশী মার্কিনী, Bangladeshī Markinī) are Americans of Bangladeshi descent. The majority of Bangladeshi Americans are Bengalis and form the largest group of Bengali Americans. Ban ...
lawyer and nominee to serve as a
United States district judge
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
of the
.
Education
Choudhury earned a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1998, a
Master of Public Administration
The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...
from the
Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...
in 2006, and a
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law
and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
in 2006.
Career
Choudhury began her career as a
law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...
for Judge
Denise Cote
Denise Louise Cote (born October 13, 1946) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Early life and education
Cote was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota. She received a Bache ...
of the
and Judge
Barrington Daniels Parker Jr. of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juri ...
. She worked for more than 11 years at the national
ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
based in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
She has since worked as a staff attorney for the ACLU National Security Project and Racial Justice Program. Since 2020, she has been the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.
Nomination to district court
On January 19, 2022, President
Joe Biden nominated Choudhury to serve as a United States district judge of the
. President Biden nominated Choudhury to the seat vacated by Judge
Joseph F. Bianco, who was elevated to the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juri ...
on May 17, 2019.
On April 27, 2022, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. During her confirmation hearing, she was asked whether she had said "the killing of unarmed Black men by police happens every day in America." Choudhury at first testified she was not sure she made that statement but then said she "said it in my role as an advocate." Her testimony caused several law enforcement groups, including the
Fraternal Order of Police
The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is a fraternal organization consisting of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It reports a membership of over 355,000 members organized in 2,100 local chapters (lodges), state lodges, and the ...
and the
Sergeants Benevolent Association
The Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA) is an American Police unions in the United States, police union that represents the Sergeant#Police departments and prisons, sergeants of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), while the department ...
, to oppose her nomination. Two weeks after her hearing, Choudhury sent a letter to the Judiciary Committee denying that she had made the statement. Republicans on the Judiciary Committee requested a second hearing due to Choudhury's contradictory statements, but Senator
Dick Durbin
Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Democratic Party, Durbin has served as the Senate Dem ...
rejected the request for a second hearing. On May 26, 2022, her nomination was reported out of the committee by a 12–10 vote. On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the President under
Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
; she was renominated later the same day. On February 9, 2023, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote. Her nomination is pending before the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
.
If confirmed by the Senate, Choudhury would become the first Muslim woman and first Bangladeshi American to serve as a federal judge.
Personal life
Choudhury married Michael Early, a visual effects producer, in 2016.
See also
*
Joe Biden judicial appointment controversies
President Joe Biden began his presidency with fewer vacancies to fill than his predecessor. He pledged to nominate people with diverse backgrounds and professional experience, and also pledged to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Cour ...
References
1976 births
Living people
21st-century American women lawyers
21st-century American lawyers
American people of Bangladeshi descent
Columbia University alumni
Illinois lawyers
Lawyers from Chicago
New York (state) lawyers
Princeton University alumni
Yale Law School alumni
{{Law-bio-stub