Nancy Abudu

Nancy Gbana Abudu (born 1974)[1] is an American lawyer from Georgia. She is a nominee to serve as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Nancy Abudu
Personal details
Born
Nancy Gbana Abudu

1974 (age 48–49)
Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.
EducationColumbia University (BA)
Tulane University (JD)

Early life and education

Abudu was born and raised in Alexandria, Virginia, the daughter of immigrants from Ghana.[2] After graduating from Mercersburg Academy in 1992, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1996 and a Juris Doctor from Tulane University Law School in 1999.[3][4]

Career

From 1999 to 2001, Abudu was an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. From 2002 to 2004, she served as a staff attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. From 2005 to 2013, she was a staff attorney at the ACLU Voting Rights Project. From 2013 to 2019, she was the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. During her time with the ACLU, Abudu specialized in voting rights law.[5] Since 2019, she has worked as the deputy legal director and interim director for strategic litigation at the Southern Poverty Law Center.[3][6]

Notable cases

In 2009, Abudu was co-counsel for Debra L. Harvey and Catherine M. Beddard who challenged Arizona's felon-restoration statute. Arizona's Constitution provides: "No person who is adjudicated an incapacitated person shall be qualified to vote at any election, nor shall any person convicted of treason or felony, be qualified to vote at any election unless restored to civil rights." The plaintiffs brought suits challenging Arizona's disenfranchisement scheme, arguing the law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[7][8]

In 2016, Abudu was co-counsel for The League of Women Voters of Florida in a lawsuit, claiming that the congressional redistricting plan adopted by the Florida Legislature violated Article III, Section 20 of the Florida Constitution, by “favoring the Republican Party and its incumbents.” Article III, Section 20 was added to the Florida Constitution on November 2, 2010, following the general election and provides in subsection (a) that "[n]o apportionment plan or individual district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent...."[9][10]

In 2017, Abudu was co-counsel for The Gainesville Woman Care LLC in a case against the state of Florida. They challenged the 2015 amendment to Florida's informed consent law for termination of pregnancies that created a 24–hour waiting period.[11][12]

Nomination to court of appeals

On December 23, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Abudu to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. On January 10, 2022, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Abudu to the seat vacated by Judge Beverly B. Martin, who retired on September 30, 2021.[13] On April 27, 2022, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[14] Her nomination attracted intense Republican opposition due to Abudu's work for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has labeled some of the Judiciary Committee's Republican members as "white supremacists".[15] In 2020, Abudu equated felon disenfranchisement with slavery, writing "When you add laws that prohibit people with a criminal conviction from voting, it's practically the same system as during slavery."[16] On May 26, 2022, the Judiciary Committee were deadlocked on her nomination by an 11–11 vote.[17][18] On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate; she was renominated later the same day.[19]

On February 9, 2023, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote.[20] Abudu did not gain any Republican support in the committee vote, as Republicans questioned whether her advocacy work would prevent her from being impartial on the bench.[15] Her nomination is pending before the United States Senate. If confirmed, Abudu would be the first African-American woman to sit on the Eleventh Circuit.[21][22]

See also

References
  1. "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  2. "Nancy Abudu '92: Voting and Working for Fairness". Mercersburg Academy. 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  3. "President Biden Names Twelfth Round of Judicial Nominees" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. December 23, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. "Voting-Themed School Meeting Features Two Alumni". Mercersburg Academy. 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  5. "Q&A: ACLU attorney Nancy Abudu focused on voting rights". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  6. "Challenging Regressive Voting Rights Policies: A discussion with Nancy Abudu, Interim Director of Strategic Litigation & Deputy Legal Director for the Voting Rights Program for the Southern Poverty Law Center". Harvard Law School. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
  7. "Harvey v. Brewer, 605 F.3d 1067 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com.
  8. "Court: Disenfranchisement Not Limited to Felonies at Common Law".
  9. "League of Women Voters of Fla. v. Detzner, 188 So. 3d 68 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com.
  10. "League of Women Voters of Florida v. Detzner".
  11. "State v. Gainesville Woman Care LLC, 213 So. 3d 1141 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com.
  12. "Gainesville Woman Care LLC, et al. V. Florida, et al".
  13. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 10, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  14. "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. April 25, 2022.
  15. Headley, Tiana (February 9, 2023). "Biden Eleventh Circuit Pick Advances Out of Senate Judiciary (1)". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  16. Lucas, Fred (3 May 2023). "Meet Biden's most controversial judicial nominees stalled in Senate because of Feinstein's absence". Fox News. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  17. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – May 26, 2022" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  18. Wagner, Rose. "One nominee left in lurch at Senate committee vote on judicial picks".
  19. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 3, 2023.
  20. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – February 9, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  21. Long, Colleen (December 23, 2021). "40 federal judges confirmed in 2021; Biden nominates 2 more". Associated Press.
  22. "Written Questions for Nancy Abudu" (PDF). 4 May 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.


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