Sprint To Fill Judicial Vacancies Resumes with New Nominations 

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 13, 2022 – Wasting no time following last week’s confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the White House has released its sixteenth slate of judicial nominees. These five nominees continue President Biden’s commitment to staffing our federal courts with judges who look like and have experience serving the American people. 

• Judge John Z. Lee would be the first Asian-American judge to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. 
• Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr. would be Washington’s first Hispanic nominee to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. 
• Nancy Maldonado would be the first Hispanic woman to serve on a federal court in Illinois, and she brings significant experience advocating for workers and unions.
• Gregory B. Williams would be only the second African American to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware and would become the only judge of color currently on that court. 

Currently, there remain 86 district court and 24 federal circuit court vacancies. 

Alliance for Justice President Rakim H.D. Brooks issued the following statement: 

“The sprint is on. There are still over 100 vacancies on our lower courts, and Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham have recently reminded us that Senate Republicans will block all of President Biden’s nominees from confirmation if they take control of the Senate. The White House and Senate Democrats have set a record-breaking pace to filling the vacancies on our lower courts, and it’s exciting to once again see such an incredible slate of nominees. We can only hope they keep coming and that the Senate keeps confirming them, with a goal of filling all vacancies by 2023. The next eight months might be the very last opportunity to do so.”