Story at a glance
- U.S. magistrate Judge Zahid Quraishi will serve as a U.S. District Judge for New Jersey.
- He is of Pakistani descent.
- Quraishi has spent most of his career in the public sector.
On Thursday, the U.S. Senate confirmed the first Muslim American federal judge to serve as a U.S. District Judge for New Jersey.
Zahid Quraishi will become the first Muslim American to be a federal judge in U.S. history.
“Mr. Quraishi will be the first American Muslim in United States history to serve as an Article III federal judge. The third largest religion in the United States, and he will become the first to ever serve as an Article III judge,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said Wednesday prior to the vote, per CNN.
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Quraishi had served as a U.S. magistrate judge in New Jersey. He is of Pakistani ancestry, which also made him the first Asian-American to serve in the federal judiciary of New Jersey.
Schumer continued to say Quraishi’s nomination is a “powerful” example of achieving diversity among federal judges.
Among the members of the Senate, 83 voted “yea” with 16 voting “nay” during the roll call vote. A 50 percent majority was required.
All those who voted no on Quraishi’s nomination were Republican.
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