U.S. Senate confirms Rhode Island’s first Black or LGBTQ judge

Rhode Island District Court Associate Judge Melissa R. DuBose, who was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as a U.S. district judge for the District of Rhode Island, testifies at a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Feb. 8, 2024. (Screenshot from committee stream.)

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate this week confirmed Rhode Island’s first Black and first openly LGBTQ judge to the federal judiciary.

In a 51-47 vote, the Senate approved Rhode Island District Court Associate Judge Melissa DuBose’s lifetime appointment to the state’s federal district court, marking the 100th confirmation of a Black woman nominated by President Joe Biden to the federal judiciary. That number set a record, according to an analysis by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, which is a coalition of civil rights groups.

Rhode Island Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed said in a joint statement to States Newsroom that DuBose would make an “outstanding addition” to the federal bench.

“She has proven to be an exceptional jurist with a track record of ensuring trials are fair and efficient,” they said. “We are confident she will continue to serve Rhode Islanders with honor, integrity, and distinction in this new role on the District Court, where she will make history as the first Black woman and first openly LGBTQ judge to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.”

Her confirmation builds on the Biden administration’s record of nominating women and people of color to be federal judges.

“Judge DuBose brings to the bench experience that far too often has been excluded from our courts,” said Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “Though we celebrate this long overdue milestone, we recognize that we are still far from reaching equity in representation in our judiciary.”

During her nomination hearing in early February, Reed and Whitehouse called DuBose a “daughter of Providence,” for her lifelong service to the Ocean State.

Republicans on the committee took issue with a quote she gave in a 2000 article published by the Feminist Press where DuBose said she was in her “Marxist phase.”

DuBose told GOP Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and John Kennedy of Louisiana that because she was a political science major, she was reading various political theorists.

DuBose previously worked as a public school history teacher while taking night classes at Roger Williams University School of Law in Rhode Island.

The Senate also confirmed in a 55-41 vote the nomination of Jasmine Hyejung Yoon to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Virginia. She is now the first judge of color on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia and first Asian American judge to serve a lifetime appointment on any federal district court in Virginia.

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