U.S. Senate confirms 2nd Circuit judge; panel advances five other nominees

(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday further expanded the number of former public defenders serving as federal appellate judges by elevating a judge in Connecticut to a seat on the New York-based federal appeals court.

U.S. District Judge Sarah Merriam was confirmed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a 53-44 vote shortly after the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced five of President Joe Biden's other judicial nominees to the full Senate, including two circuit court picks.

Senate Democrats are ramping up judicial confirmations before the Nov. 8 midterm elections, when Republicans could retake the chamber.

The Senate has approved 82 of Biden's judicial nominees, surpassing the number of confirmed nominees by former Republican President Donald Trump at this stage of his presidency. The majority have been women and people of color.

Seven of Biden's confirmed circuit court nominees worked as public defenders representing indigent criminal defendants, a record for a president. Those include Meriam, who earlier in her career was an assistant federal public defender in Connecticut.

The vote came after the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced two other appellate court nominees, including Bradley Garcia, who would become the first Latino to serve on the influential U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The panel voted 12-10 for Garcia, a former O'Melveny & Myers partner now at the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. He is Biden's fourth nominee to the D.C. Circuit, which many view as second only to the U.S. Supreme Court in importance.

If confirmed to the lifetime position, Garcia, 36, would be the youngest D.C. Circuit judge. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the panel's ranking member, ahead of the vote predicted Garcia would have "trouble" getting GOP support over his level of experience.

The panel also voted 16-6 to advance U.S. Magistrate Judge Dana Douglas to be the first Black woman on the conservative-leaning New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

On the district court level, it voted 13-8-1 in favor of Minnesota nominee Jerry Blackwell, a partner at Blackwell Burke who helped prosecute former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

It also advanced Frances Kay Behm, a Michigan state court judge nominated to serve in the Eastern District of Michigan, as well as Anne Nardacci, a Boies Schiller & Flexner partner, to be a judge in the Northern District of New York. (NOTE: This article has been updated to reflect the correct law firm for Jerry Blackwell, which is Blackwell Burke.)

Read more:

U.S. Senate panel advances public defender vets up for judgeships

Biden D.C. Circuit nominee Garcia, 36, defends experience

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