(NJ.com) President Joe Biden, making his first picks for the federal bench, announced Tuesday he would nominate Zahid Quraishi for the U.S. District Court. If confirmed, Quraishi will be the first Muslim American to serve as a federal district judge.
Quraishi, a Rutgers Law School graduate who currently serves as a U.S. magistrate judge, is one of Biden’s first 10 nominations to the federal courts.
Biden also will fill a second vacancy on the U.S. District Court in New Jersey with Julien Neals, Bergen County counsel and acting county administrator.
Other than California, no state has more vacancies than the six on the U.S. District Court for New Jersey, according to the Judicial Conference of the United States, which has declared a “judicial emergency.” Two judges have retired and four others have taken senior status, meaning they handle fewer cases.
