US Senate confirms Ghanaian-American Nancy Abudu to Federal Court of Appeal
Ms. Abudu was nominated more than a year ago by President Biden and will make history as the first African-American female judge to sit on the Atlanta-based appeals court (Eleventh Circuit).
The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed the nomination of Nancy Gbana Abudu, a Ghanaian-American lawyer to serve as a Circuit Judge for one of the country's Federal Court of Appeals.
Ms. Abudu was nominated more than a year ago by President Biden and will make history as the first African-American female judge to sit on the Atlanta-based appeals court (Eleventh Circuit).
"The Senate confirmed Abudu 49-47 on Thursday amid GOP criticism of her work with the Southern Poverty Law Center, where she served as deputy legal director and interim director for strategic litigation.
She waited over a year for a confirmation vote, and was delayed in recent months by the absence of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) for health reasons. Abudu was opposed by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), in a rare Democratic defection against one of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees," Bloomberg Law reported.
Born to Ghanaian parents, Ms. Abudu received her Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from Tulane University School of Law in 1999 and a B.A. from Columbia University in 1996.
Until her nomination, she was the Deputy Legal Director and interim Director for strategic litigation at the Southern Poverty Law Center, an American legal advocacy NGO, specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation.
She formerly served as a staff attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from 2002 to 2004. She was an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP from 1999 to 2001.
