Mustafa Kasubhai appointed U.S. District Judge of Oregon in historic confirmation
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The U.S. Senate voted 51-44 to confirm Mustafa Kasubhai as a U.S. district judge for the District of Oregon, following President Joe Biden's nomination last year.
Born in Reseda, California, Kasubhai is an alumnus of the University of California, Berkley (B.A.), and the University of Oregon School of Law (J.D.). From 2007-2018, he was a Lane County Circuit Court judge. Since 2018, he has served as a U.S. magistrate judge for the District of Oregon.
Kasubhai's new role as a U.S. district judge, a lifetime appointment, comes after U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken reached retirement age late last year.
In a release, Chief U.S. District Judge Michael McShane of Oregon praised the Senate's confirmation, saying Kasubhai "has provided the Oregon bar with profound leadership; championing professionalism, mentorship, access to justice, and inclusion."
"He has served as a role model for a generation of law students, attorneys, and judges who have had the privilege of working with him," McShane said.
Kasubhai, who has been a lecturer at the University of Oregon School of Law's Litigation Lab since 2023, was the recipient of numerous awards over the years for his commitment to public service. He has been a member of the Committee on Bias in the Justice System in Oregon since 2019 and is a member of various other associations dedicated to equity and inclusion.
Lena Zwarensteyn, the senior director of the fair courts program and advisor at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, praised Kasubhai's confirmation as a historic milestone for inclusion. Kasubhai will be the first Asian-American lifetime judge and the first Muslim lifetime judge appointed to the District of Oregon.
"We thank President Biden and Senators Merkley and Wyden for their leadership and applaud all senators who supported Judge Kasubhai’s confirmation," Zwarensteyn said. "The Senate must continue the urgent and important work of building an equal justice judiciary that works for all people in America, and that means expeditiously confirming every pending judicial nominee. Our courts and our future can’t wait.”
Kasubhai will continue working from a Eugene courtroom in his new role as U.S. district judge for the District of Oregon.