President Joe Biden Set To Nominate First Muslim American Judge To Federal Appeals Court

White House official says President Biden is scheduled to announce his intention to nominate Adeel A. Mangi to a federal appeals court

A White House official said President Biden will announce his intention to nominate Adeel A. Mangi to a federal appeals court, potentially making Mangi the first Muslim American judge to serve, NBC News reported.

Mangi, an attorney and partner at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP in New York, has an impressive résumé, which includes serving on the board of directors of the Muslim Bar Association of New York, the Legal Aid Society of New York, and Muslims for Progressive Values. He also is an ally board member for the National LGBT Bar Association. Throughout his legal career, Mangi has worked on commercial contracts, false advertising, and consumer protection statutes in state and federal courts. In 2022 he secured a $2 billion verdict in a case that involved the robbery of trade secrets in the software space.

The White House put a spotlight on how Mangi handled court filings before state and federal appeals courts, even appearing before the Supreme Court as a spokesperson for a multifaith religious coalition. He has been involved with numerous legal disputes in cases of discrimination against Muslims, including one in 2016 when he filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a Islamic group that alleged anti-Muslim rhetoric over the denial of a proposal to build a mosque in New Jersey.

Out of the five nominations Biden is projected to announce, Mangi’s appointment would fulfill the president’s pledge to “ensure that the nation’s courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country — both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds,” according to The Washington Post. Since 2021, Biden nominated as many minority women to be judges in his first four months as Donald Trump had confirmed in four years.

Another nominee Biden is considering is Superior Court Judge Cristal Brisco from St. Joseph County, Indiana. She would be the first Black woman and the first woman of color to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, if confirmed.