Source: United States Senator for Ohio Sherrod Brown
WASHINGTON, DC — In Case You Missed It: Today, Cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer Editorial Board applauded Senator Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) work with Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) to advance Ms. Bridget Meehan Brennan, Mr. Charles Esque Fleming, and Judge David Augustin Ruiz, three diverse, qualified nominees for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and Ms. Marisa Darden, who would be the first African American woman to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. Senators Brown and Portman recommended these nominees through a bipartisan judicial commission and praised their distinct career achievements. On Wednesday, Brown introduced the three U.S. District Court nominees at their Senate Judiciary Committee nomination hearing.
“In the current toxic political environment where everything seems to be seen through a partisan lens, the unwavering solidarity [Senators] Portman and Brown have shown in supporting and advancing these nominations reveals the depth of their commitment to diversity. Together, they aim to ensure that the federal judiciary and federal law enforcement, in Cleveland and federally, more fairly represent the diversity of our nation. It’s about time,” wrote the Editorial Board for Cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer.
Senator Brown has worked throughout his time in the Senate to increase diversity in the justice system in Ohio, including the recommendation of Judge Benita Pearson to serve in the Northern District, and the recommendation of both Carter Stewart and Ken Parker to serve as U.S. Attorney in the Southern District.
Read more about the Northern District judicial nominees HERE.
Read the Cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer’s full editorial article HERE or below:
EDITORIAL: Confirm Cleveland nominees for a more diverse federal bench, U.S. Attorney’s Office: editorial
By: Editorial Board
November 19, 2021
President Joe Biden struck a blow for diversity with four recent nominations: his Sept. 30 nominations of a trio of pathbeaking judges to the U.S. District Court bench for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland, and his recent nomination of Marisa Darden for U.S. Attorney for the Northern District. Darden, if confirmed, would be the first Black woman to serve as a U.S. attorney in Ohio.
Contributing significantly toward the confirmation of all four is that both of Ohio’s senators — Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Rob Portman — stand foursquare together behind their nominations, and recommended them jointly to Biden.
In the current toxic political environment where everything seems to be seen through a partisan lens, the unwavering solidarity Portman and Brown have shown in supporting and advancing these nominations reveals the depth of their commitment to diversity. Together, they aim to ensure that the federal judiciary and federal law enforcement, in Cleveland and federally, more fairly represent the diversity of our nation. It’s about time.
In a March guest column on cleveland.com, Ronald Adrine, the highly respected, retired longtime Cleveland Municipal Court administrative judge, urged Sen. Brown to prevail on Biden to prioritize diversity in forthcoming judicial and prosecutorial nominations for Cleveland. A more diverse local federal bench was especially important, Adrine noted, because U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver, the Northern District’s only Black male judge, then planned to take senior status (and has since done so). Also serving on the local federal bench is U.S. District Judge Benita Y. Pearson, a Black woman.
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Click here to read the full editorial column.
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