The United States Senate on Thursday (June 15) appointed former American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney Nusrat Jahan Choudhury as a federal judge.

She will serve as a federal judge in the United States District Court.

Nusrat Choudhury made a record of becoming the first Bangladeshi and Muslim woman to become a federal judge of the United States court.

She is 46 years of age, will serve as a judge in the Eastern District Court of New York.

Under US law, all federal judges must be confirmed by the Senate. Nusrat got 49 out of 50 approval votes. Conservative Joe Manchin cast the only vote against her appointment.

In January 2022, Nusrat was nominated as a federal judge by US President Joe Biden. Several social justice, civil liberties and Muslim rights organizations supported the president's nomination.

Nusrat's appointment is considered a milestone in the US judicial system. According to many, the Muslim community faces discrimination and civil liberties abuse in the country's judicial system.

Several organizations wrote a letter to Senator Dick Durbin last year welcoming Nusrat's nomination to be a federal judge.

In that letter, the organizations said, "Many people of Bangladeshi American and Muslim communities live in New York where Nusrat will be serving."

Meanwhile, all Muslim organizations in the United States welcomed Nusrat's appointment as a federal judge.

The US’s first Muslim federal judge ever appointed was Zahid Quraishi in 2021.

News source: The Guardian; Photograph: Tom Williams/Getty Images