New York, USA (CU)_ US President Joe Biden declared his desire to appoint Indian-American Rupa Ranga Puttagunta as a federal judge in the US District Court, alongside ten other diverse nominees for top judicial posts, including African-American and Muslim-American nominees. The presidential selections include ten Federal Circuit and District Court judge appointments, as well as one Superior Court Judge appointment for the District of Columbia.
According to the White House, the president’s deep belief that the federal bench should represent the full diversity of the American people, both in history and professional experience, is reflected through these highly qualified candidates. The White House declared that Judge Puttagunta will become the first Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) woman judge to be appointed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia if the US Senate finalized her appointment.
Judge Puttagunta is presently employed at the D.C. Rental Housing Commission as an Administrative Judge, since 2019. Judge Puttagunta was an independent lawyer from 2013 to 2019, representing indigent criminal offenders in trial and on appeal. Judge Puttagunta worked at Delaney McKinney, LLP from 2012 to 2013, where she mastered family and appellate law.
Judge Puttagunta volunteered at the D.C. Superior Court’s Family Court Self-Help Center and Attorney Negotiator Program and represented victims of domestic abuse in D.C. Superior Court while consulting on domestic relations issues in private practice. From 2008 to 2010, Judge Puttagunta served as a law clerk for Judge William M. Jackson of the D.C. Superior Court, and from 2010 to 2011, she worked for the Senior Judges of the D.C. Court of Appeals.
In 2007, Judge Puttagunta graduated from Ohio State Moritz College of Law with a Juris Doctorate. Three African-American women and a Muslim American are among the nominees revealed on Tuesday. Judge Zahid N Quraishi will become the first Muslim American federal judge in US history if the Senate finalize her appointment.
