Democrats appear to be losing support among their members for President Joe Biden’s historic appointment of a Muslim appellate nominee due to associations the appointee has with an organization that conservatives have denounced as anti-police. According to Bloomberg Law, Adeel Mangi, the nominee in question, serves on the advisory board of the Alliance of Families for Justice, an organization co-founded by Kathy Boudin, a convicted felon for her role in a 1981 Brinks armored truck robbery in Nanuet, New York that resulted in the death of two police officers.
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) is the first Democratic senator to publicly express concern about Adeel Mangi’s nomination. This emerging dissatisfaction from within Democratic ranks coincides with continued censure from conservatives, further complicating the path to Mangi’s potential appointment.
Mangi’s appointment would be a significant milestone, marking the first time a Muslim has been nominated to an appellate position. The extent to which his links to the Alliance of Families for Justice will impact his nomination remains to be seen, and will no doubt be the subject of intense debate amongst lawmakers.
As these developments unfold, legal professionals should closely monitor the situation, not just because of the impact it could have on the makeup of the judiciary, but also for the implications for ongoing discussions surrounding justice reform and the way it pertains to the perceived anti-police sentiment.