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President Joe Biden’s most recent nominee to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals would be the first Hispanic judge to serve on the Chicago-based appellate court if she is confirmed.
Judge Nancy L . Maldonado, currently of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, was nominated to the appellate bench on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, Maldonado was nominated to fill the vacancy created by Judge Ilana Rovner taking senior status.
According to the White House, Maldonado is a 1997 graduate of Harvard University and a 2001 graduate of Columbia Law School. Her career has included a clerkship for Judge Ruben Castillo of the Northern District of Illinois and work in private practice as both an associate and partner at Miner Barnhill & Galland in Chicago.
She was confirmed to the Illinois Northern District Court bench in 2022.
According to Reuters, Maldonado’s confirmation would make her the first Hispanic judge to serve on the 7th Circuit. Rovner herself was a first — the first woman to sit on that bench.
Biden’s other appointments to the 7th Circuit include Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, whose confirmation in 2021 made her the first person of color to sit on the Chicago court since Judge Ann Claire Williams retired in 2018; Judge John Lee, the first Asian American judge of the 7th Circuit; Judge Doris Pryor, the first person of color from Indiana to serve on the 7th Circuit; and Judge Joshua Kolar, a former magistrate judge who was confirmed to the appellate bench last month.
Notably, Maldonado has the backing of Sen. Dick Durbin, the Illinois Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, Reuters reported. She also has the support of the state’s other senator, Tammy Duckworth.
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