Washington, DC — Today, Sen. Chuck Schumer officially recommended that President Joe Biden nominate American Muslim attorney Nusrat Choudhury as a nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. If confirmed, Choudhury would become the first Muslim woman to serve as a Senate-confirmed federal judge and would be just the second ever American Muslim to serve in this role. She also would be the first Bangladeshi-American to sit on a federal court. In July, Muslim Advocates sent Sen. Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand a letter urging them to recommend Choudhury as a nominee to fill one of the vacancies on New York’s federal district bench. 

The following is a statement from Muslim Advocates Co-Interim Executive Directors Asifa Quraishi-Landes and Farah Brelvi:

“Thank you, Sen. Schumer, for asking President Biden to make history by nominating the first ever Muslim woman and Bangladeshi-American federal judge. It is long past time for a Muslim woman to be given the chance to serve this country on our nation’s courts at this level.

Nusrat Choudhury is precisely the person needed to achieve President Biden’s goal of bringing diversity and inclusion to the federal bench. She has served New York’s legal system for almost her entire adult life as a law clerk, advocate and an attorney. She also has a long, stellar reputation of advancing the civil liberties and rights of minority communities. As a lawyer, she fought FBI surveillance and invasive questioning of Muslims, challenged the government’s No Fly List and even challenged the racial profiling of an Iraqi-born airline passenger.

Sen. Schumer’s recommendation is the first step towards a more just, more representative judiciary and is an inspiring moment for American Muslims. If future litigants looked up to see ‘Judge Nusrat Choudhury’ on the bench before them, they would tangibly feel the legacy of the administration’s goal to diversify the federal judiciary. We urge President Biden to heed Sen. Schumer’s recommendation and quickly nominate Choudhury to the federal bench.”

Additional Resources:

• Read Muslim Advocates’ letter to Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand

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Muslim Advocates is a national civil rights organization working in the courts, in the halls of power and in communities to halt bigotry in its tracks. We ensure that American Muslims have a seat at the table with expert representation so that all Americans may live free from hate and discrimination.