WASHINGTON — In another move to diversify the federal bench based in Chicago — long dominated by white males — President Joe Biden on Wednesday picked trailblazing Asian American and Hispanic nominees.
Biden nominated U.S. District Court Judge John Lee for a spot on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. If confirmed, Lee would be the first Asian American judge on the panel and the second person of color on the Chicago-based appeals court.
The president also picked his first nominee for a slot on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Nancy Maldonado, a partner at Miner, Barnhill & Galland P.C., will be, if confirmed, the first Hispanic female federal judge in Illinois.
Diversity on the federal courts across the nation — and in Illinois — has been a very long time coming.
Biden has made diversifying the federal bench a priority in his judicial nominations — numbering 90 so far — with his highest-profile nomination, Ketanji Brown Jackson, confirmed last week for the Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman on the high court.
On June 24, 2021, the Senate confirmed Candace Jackson-Akiwumi for the 7th Circuit. She became only the second Black woman ever on the 7th Circuit — and for now, the only person of color hearing cases from Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana.
Retired Judge Ann Claire Williams was the first Black woman to sit on Chicago-based federal district and appellate courts. Williams, in her role as the chair of the American Bar...
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