The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Sarah Russell to sit on the U.S. District Court in Connecticut as Democrats scramble to install as many of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees as they can before losing their majority and the White House next year.
Russell was confirmed in a 50-44 vote shortly after clearing a procedural vote by a similar margin. She was nominated by Biden to replace Sarah Merriam, who served on that court for almost a year before she was elevated to a federal appellate court.
A former public defender, Russell has taught as a law school professor at Quinnipiac University since 2011 and was a former lecturer at Yale Law School. She is the director of Quinnipiac law school’s Legal Clinic and works on juvenile sentencing and parole issues. And she serves as a governor-appointed member on the Connecticut Sentencing Commission, an independent state agency that reviews the state’s sentencing policies and can make recommendations about them.
Russell has prior experience with the federal district court she was confirmed to sit on, serving as counsel to its Federal Grievance Committee that investigates attorney ethics complaints as well as a previous stint on its Standing Committee on the Criminal Justice Act.
“Sarah Russell is a proven champion of justice — fighting to vindicate legal rights, often for the most vulnerable and voiceless,” U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a statement. “As a teacher, public defender, legal clinic director, and litigator, she has shown passion for public service and dedication to the rule of law.”
“Her experience both as a litigator and as an expert on sentencing policy and juvenile justice make her exceptionally qualified for this role, and I’m glad to see her confirmed today to continue her important work on the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut,” U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said in a statement.
Russell’s confirmation comes more than a year after she was initially nominated by the president. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved her nomination in late 2023, but because the full Senate did not act on her confirmation before the end of the year, Biden had to renominate her early this year and the Senate restarted the process.
In January, the Judiciary Committee again advanced her nomination along party lines. She faced pushback from Republican senators over a letter she signed in 2020 about public health concerns surrounding incarceration during the pandemic.
It called on Gov. Ned Lamont at the time to “immediately release, to the maximum extent possible, people incarcerated pre-trial and post-conviction,” to place a moratorium on those newly admitted to prisons and jails and to protect the health of those who were still incarcerated.
The letter, which was signed by more than 1,000 people and organizations, argued that prisons and jails “are detrimental to public health and human rights and disproportionately harm marginalized communities,” raising concerns in particular about how COVID infections would affect larger populations like in prisons.
Russell submitted thousands of documents to the Judiciary Committee as part of her nomination but did not disclose the letter, which she called an “oversight” at her confirmation hearing last year. She has since said that it does “not accurately reflect my views” and was too broad.
Critics like U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who sits on the committee, called the contents of the letter “extreme.” He had argued that it did not make distinctions about who would have been released under this request and made no mention of non-violent offenders.
“That’s what she signed, and that’s not a position that any reasonable person would want to give her the power to execute on what she advocated,” Cruz said at a Judiciary Committee hearing in January.
Blumenthal came to her defense, arguing that criticisms from Cruz and other Republicans do not “detract from her qualifications” and that she has already assured the committee that it would not affect how she deals with sentencing as a federal judge.
“This nominee is extraordinarily well-qualified as a scholar, a litigator, a teacher over decades, and that’s the reason why the people of Connecticut do strongly support her nomination,” he said at the hearing. “Sarah Russell has disavowed the views in it.”
Confirming as many of Biden’s judicial nominees has become a high priority for Democrats in the final weeks of the session before Republicans get uniform control of Congress next year and President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
During his presidency, Biden has sought to reshape the federal judiciary and expand diversity on the federal bench when it comes to gender, race and professional background, such as increasing the number of public defenders.
Russell has experience as a public defender and as a clerk in federal courtrooms. She was an assistant federal defender in the Federal Public Defender’s Office in New Haven who worked with lower income clients between 2005 to 2007.
From 2003 to 2005, she worked as a law clerk for a judge on the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over Connecticut, New York and Vermont.
“Ms. Russell’s critically important experience rooting out disparities in the criminal-legal system and protecting the rights of all people, including her work as a public defender, will bring valuable perspectives to the court and greatly benefit the District of Connecticut,” Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a statement.
“The Senate must now continue this tremendously important work and confirm all pending judicial nominees before the end of this administration,” she added. “Time is of the essence to build a judiciary that works for all of us.”
Over the past two years, the Senate has confirmed a number of Biden’s nominees to federal courts with jurisdiction over Connecticut.
In 2021, Merriam, Omar Antonio Williams and Sarala Vidya Nagala were all confirmed by the Senate to become U.S. District Court judges in Connecticut.
Biden then appointed Merriam to the 2nd Circuit Court and she was confirmed in 2022. In March 2023, former Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Maria Araújo Kahn joined the same court. Three of the 13 lifetime appointments to the New York City-based appellate court go to a nominee from Connecticut.
And in September 2023, the Senate confirmed Judge Vernon Oliver to sit on the U.S. District Court in Connecticut.
The Connecticut Mirror/Connecticut Public Radio federal policy reporter position is made possible, in part, by funding from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation.
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
