Senate Confirms 4th Native American Judge On The Entire Federal Bench | HuffPost Communities
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Lauren J. King testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 9. President Joe Biden nominated King to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.CSPAN
The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Lauren J. King to a U.S. district court, making her just the fourth Native American judge on the entire federal bench.
King, 39, was confirmed to a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Every Democrat present voted for her. Six Republicans voted for her: Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Mike Rounds (S.D.).
The final vote was 55-44.
King, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation based in Oklahoma, was most recently an attorney at the Seattle-based law firm Foster Garvey, P.C. She has served as a pro tem appellate judge for the Northwest Intertribal Court System since 2013 and previously taught Federal Indian Law at the Seattle University School of Law.
She joins three other Native American judges actively serving on the federal bench out of nearly 900 authorized federal judgeships. Those three are U.S. District Judges Diane Humetewa, Ada Brown and Lydia Kay Griggsby.
There have only ever been six Native Americans who have been federal judges in the 230-year history of the U.S. courts. That's out of more than 4,200 people who have served as Article III judges (i.e., lifetime judges on district courts, appeals courts and the Supreme Court). Besides the four previously mentioned judges, including King, the other two were U.S. District Judges Michael Burrage and Frank Howell Seay.
There has never been an Indigenous judge on a U.S. appeals court.
President Joe Biden has made diversity a driving factor in his judicial picks, both in terms of demographics, such as race and gender, but also in terms of professional backgrounds. His court picks to date have included public defenders, civil rights lawyers, voting rights lawyers and historic firsts with Native American and Muslim American picks.
Diversity on the federal bench is "critical" because it brings different perspectives into the courtroom and constricts biases relating to gender and ethnicity that can undermine justice, said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor and an expert in judicial nominations. It also improves confidence in the courts when the judges on them reflect the people they serve, he said.
It is particularly important to have Native American judges, added Tobias, especially in Indian Country and in the West, where the federal courts substantially affect the lives of so many Native American people and tribes.
"In some of these places, Native Americans are overrepresented as litigants in the federal courts and severely underrepresented as judges of those courts," he said. "Moreover, Indian Law is an exceedingly complex and highly specialized area of law that many lawyers in practice, even those who work and live in Indian Country, may understand minimally, if at all."
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) recommended King to Biden for a judgeship. Her state is home to 29 federally recognized tribes and has never had an Indigenous federal judge until now.
"I believe that this is a perspective that matters, and one that has been missing for far too long," she told HuffPost. "To have a judge in front of you who has stepped foot on tribal land and understands the process ― this perspective is really important for people to know when they go through the process, that they have someone with expertise."
Murray, like other senators, recommends people to the White House for judgeships based on potential candidates presented to her by a judicial selection committee in her state. She noted that her commission is the first in the country to explicitly include a representative from a tribal nation, Rion Ramirez, who is the CEO of Port Madison Enterprises, the economic development arm of the Suquamish Tribe. Ramirez is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Band of Indians.
"I think he brings a voice into the room, I can only guess, to have this perspective, to make sure people listened when Lauren applied," said Murray. "She is an outstanding candidate."
Jennifer Bendery
Senior Politics Reporter, HuffPost
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Very good news, hopefully, there will be more.
The two on SCOTUS that are experts in Indian Law are Justice Gorush and Sotomayer.
That is very good news. Hopefully, there will be many more.
... many more NA judges need to be appointed.
Fabulous news!!
And am I hallucinating, or did I see Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell on the short list of Republican approvals?
You did see their names but it could have been that they thought that they were voting for Rand Paul.
Hey, I'm the one who tells the funny jokes around here.
Same here. it is awesome that Native Americans are now being acknowledged for their knowledge and contributions. I truly hope that there will be many more to come in the very near future.
Fingers crossed for more.
This might sound like an odd question, but, why? Not against it or anything, just wondering.
Since it will give us (Native Americans) some representation which we have been lacking for centuries.
.00444444% (4/900) of the Fed judges will be NA - still gotta long way to go.
Thank you.
How many Native Americans pursue a career in law?
In addition to my great niece and nephew over 3,000 active NA lawyers in the US not counting those currently enrolled in law schools across the country.
1st can add more information to this.
Not nearly enough. But visible representation provides a stronger atmosphere for identifying and promoting Native American causes. More money for education would fit nicely into that atmosphere.
They've pretty well covered it. The Native Attorney's are looking for more, 'specially since the McGirt decision 'cause it opened a whole new ballgame.
Thank you, both.
They should have added "King was born in Oklahoma City. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington in 2004 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2008."
There was a more complete article on Native News Online but you can no longer ''fetch'' from that site.
Most excellent news! It's good to know that Indians are being represented in all parts of government. It finally feels like America is embracing its own people.
And there is another native awaiting senate confirmation.
President Biden to Nominate Navajo Citizen Shelly Lowe to be Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities
I'd be willing to bet that Native American Judges are less likely to be influenced by political leanings, which seems to me to be a pretty prevalent situation in the USA.
Great news! And as young as she is she could be going places like maybe SCOTUS
Wouldn't that be great.
It would be
All four of the NA judges are women - WOWOWOWOWOW.
Have her, Diane, Neil and Sonya - wow - let's tear up some butt.
More good news.
Joe Biden reactivates Arctic Executive Steering Committee with Alaska Native heading it.
Congratulations! 'People of Color' in high places 'matter'!