Pakistani-American set to become first Muslim US federal judge

President Joe Biden has nominated Pakistani-American Judge Zahid N. Quraishi as a federal judge on the US District Court for the District of New Jersey.

He would be the first-ever lifetime-appointed Muslim federal judge if confirmed by the Senate.

Quraishi, who is of Pakistani descent, was appointed in 2019 to be a magistrate judge in the District of New Jersey by the judges he now seeks to join on the bench. He got his law degree from Rutgers Law School, where he currently serves as an adjunct professor.

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He was a military prosecutor with the JAG Corps during his time in the Army and did deployments in Iraq in 2004 and 2006, according to his Rutgers bio page. He later worked with the Department of Homeland Security then served as a federal prosecutor in the District of New Jersey.

The Biden nominee has also received several honors for his work, according to his Rutgers bio, including the 2019 New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association Trailblazer of the Year Award.

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Just before his magistrate judge appointment, Quraishi worked in white collar private practice at the law firm Riker Danzig, according to Rutgers, where he was also the chief diversity officer.

Quraishi is among Biden’s first 11 judicial nominees that also include three black women.

“This trailblazing slate of nominees draws from the very best and brightest minds of the American legal profession,’ Biden said in a statement that emphasized their “broad diversity of background experience and perspective.”