On Thursday, President Obama announced several nominees to federal
judge positions, including Staci Michelle Yandle. Yandle, who runs a
private practice out of Illinois, would become only the second ever
African-American, lesbian federal judge if she is confirmed, and her
nomination is an indication of the concerted effort President Obama has
made to diversify the American judicial system. Yandle will likely fill
the space being vacated in the District Court of the southern district
of Illinois by Judge John Phil Gilbert when he takes senior status in
mid-March.
HuffPost reports:
“I am pleased to nominate these
distinguished individuals to serve on the United States District Court
bench," Obama said of Yandle and a handful of other nominees he put
forward Thursday. "I am confident they will serve the American people
with integrity and a steadfast commitment to justice."
Yandle's nomination puts her on track to
become the second openly lesbian African-American federal judge in the
country. Judge Deborah Batts, nominated by President Bill Clinton, was
sworn in as a federal judge in Manhattan in June 1994. Batts took senior
status in April 2012.
Yandle said in a July 2012 interview that the judicial world needs to be more accepting of the LGBT community.
"When I first started practicing, for a
while I did not feel comfortable acknowledging my sexual orientation
because I didn’t want it to cost me my job," she said. "I wanted to be
judged on my merit and my merit alone. Many members of the LGBT
community still have that fear. We are a traditional profession that is
conservative in many ways."
Congratulations to Yandle on the nomination, and we will cross our fingers for her confirmation!
No comments:
Post a Comment