The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed U.S. Magistrate Judge Dana Douglas of Louisiana to be the first Black female judge to ever serve on the New Orleans-based Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (article available here).
The court hears appeals from lower federal courts in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi.
Douglas has served as a federal magistrate judge in New Orleans since 2019. Prior to joining the federal bench, she was a partner at a Louisiana law firm where she worked from 2001 to 2018.
The vote marked the third time in the past two weeks that the Democratic-led Senate confirmed a Black female judge to the federal appeals courts, where Black women have long been underrepresented.
President Biden has won the appointment of a record 11 Black women federal appellate judges, including on Monday when the Senate endorsed Delaware Supreme Court Justice Tamika Montgomery-Reeves' nomination to the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.