Congratulations to Judge Mustafa Kasubhai

and thank you President Biden for nominating the third Muslim ever to serve as district court judge

In a 51 to 44 party-line vote, Judge Mustafa Taher Kasubhai was confirmed to a lifetime appointment as a U.S. District Court Judge:

President Joe Biden nominated Kasubhai in September 2023. The following month, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee grilled Kasubhai during a confirmation hearing that focused less on his jurisprudence and more on gender, race and other culture war flashpoints.

“What I try to do when I sit on the bench is I extend to people graciousness and patience so that they have not just the opportunity to be heard,” Kasubhai said during his Oct. 4, 2023 confirmation hearing before the committee in Washington D.C. “When I issue a ruling whether somebody prevails or doesn’t prevail, I want that ruling to be conveyed in a way that helps them to think of the court as a place in which decisions can be decided impartially without regard to who they are and that they were heard.”

…

Democrats are moving quickly to appoint federal judges nominated by Biden before they lose control of the Senate, following Republicans’ sweeping victories this month in both U.S. Congress and the White House chambers.

Judge Kasubhai is the only the third Muslim ever to serve as district court judge. I am particularly proud because Judge Kasubhai is from the same ethnic community of Indian-origin Muslims as myself :)

Judge Kasubhai was confirmed by Democrats - the GOP senators were purely focused on culture war nonsense:

“I looked at some of your readings and writings, your decisions, you seem to have an affinity for Marxism,” Sen. Marsh Blackburn, R-Tennessee, said to Kasubhai.

She referred to a 1994 essay in which, in her characterization, Kasubhai criticized the concept of private property. It was written around the same time Kasubhai was attending law school at the University of Oregon.

“You argued that and I quote ‘property incites rebellion.’ This is one of the many positive statements that you have made about Marxist approaches and Marxist policies,” Blackburn said. “It disturbs me when I see this leaning to Marxism in your writings. So a yes or no question, are you a Marxist?

“No, Senator,” Kasubhai replied.

“OK, will you right now disavow the tenets of Marxism that you have praised in some of your writings?” Blackburn asked.

“Senator, I have not praised Marxist ideas, and I would disavow any other system than that would be supported by our US Constitution and our laws,” Kasubhai responded.

That’s a class act response to a bad faith attack. There are more examples in the article, including a real howler by Ted Cruz.

The judiciary always gets stacked with appointees during the lame duck session, but the Democrats nominate people with actual credentials. The vast quality differential between them and Trump appointees - both during his last term and the new incoming cabinet - is indicative of the coming “Crank Era” of conservative politics.

This is what democracy looks like. If there is to be a contrast, let it be big enough to be instructive - elections have consequences. That’s an essential lesson to learn if we are to persuade the Potential Purple Majority to get off the sidelines.