Appointment of First Muslim Federal Judge

The U.S. Senate announced today, Thursday, the appointment of civil rights attorney Nasrat Chowdhury to the Eastern District Court of New York, making her the first Muslim federal judge in the United States. The Senate confirmed Chowdhury, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Illinois, with a vote of 50 to 49. Chowdhury, an American of Bangladeshi descent, has spent most of her professional career at the American Civil Liberties Union, working on issues of racial justice and national security. She was nominated by President Joe Biden for the position in January 2022. Biden also appointed the first Muslim judge in U.S. history, Zahid Quraishi, who was confirmed by the Senate for the New Jersey federal court in 2021.