LOS ANGELES – The Biden administration on Wednesday announced more nominees to the federal bench, including three Latinas for district courts in California, Nevada, and New Jersey. Please attribute the following statement on the nominations to Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund):
“Today’s nominations, including three very well-qualified Latina lawyers and judges, are an important additional step in diversifying the federal bench to better reflect the community that the judiciary will serve in years to come. President Biden is making progress to address the systematic, near-complete exclusion of Latinos and other people of color from the nominations made over four years by the racially discriminatory Donald Trump.
“Of course, much additional progress is still required. For example, Trump’s racism left the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in which the state of Texas is dominant, without a single active Latino or Latina judge. Other exclusions trace back even further: the D.C. Circuit, the second most important court in the country, has never in its entire history had a Latino or Latina judge; and the Seventh Circuit, despite the prominence of Illinois in that circuit, has also excluded Latinos from its judiciary throughout its long existence.
“The Senate must act swiftly to confirm today’s nominees to begin to rectify the Trumpian exclusions, which too many sitting senators abetted with their votes and with their silence in the face of racial exclusion.”