As President Joe Biden continues to huddle with top aides and Vice President Kamala Harris to push through judicial nominations, the Senate has confirmed Sparkle L. Sooknanan and Amir H. Ali to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Both nominees were recommended by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and selected by Biden.
“As is evident from both nominees’ extensive and impressive accomplishments, Sooknanan and Ali have the principles, acumen, and experience to serve as exemplary federal judges,” said Norton, a member of Congress since 1991, who serves on the Committee on Oversight and Reform and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
She said the confirmations add diversity and experience to one of the nation’s most significant federal courts.
As principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Sooknanan brings a distinguished legal career to the bench. She previously served as Deputy Associate Attorney General and as an appellate attorney in the DOJ’s Civil Division.
Sooknanan clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Judge Guido Calabresi of the Second Circuit, and Judge Eric Vitaliano of the Eastern District of New York. She earned her J.D. summa cum laude from Brooklyn Law School, an M.B.A. with distinction from Hofstra University, and a B.S. summa cum laude from St. Francis College.
President and executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center since 2021, Ali also leads Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Appellate Clinic. He previously worked as an associate at Jenner & Block LLP.
Ali clerked for Justice Marshall Rothstein of the Supreme Court of Canada and Judge Raymond C. Fisher of the Ninth Circuit. He earned his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and his B.S.E. from the University of Waterloo in Canada.
When Ali, 39, was nominated his age was a point of conversation with both celebratory and critical tones.
“The best part is Amir Ali was born in 1985 so he could be on the DC court for 40 years if he wants,” one social media user wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Norton, who exercises senatorial courtesy due to D.C.’s lack of Senate representation, praised the confirmations and emphasized the importance of these appointments.
“They will bring much-needed diversity to the federal bench,” Norton said. “I look forward to their service and thank President Biden for granting me senatorial courtesy to recommend judges for the U.S. District Court for D.C.”
