Dear Senator:
I am writing on behalf of the AFL-CIO to urge your support of Nancy G. Abudu for confirmation to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. We believe Ms. Abudu brings stellar professional credentials and extensive experience litigating in the area of voting rights, making her eminently qualified for this important judicial vacancy.
Ms. Abudu attended Columbia as an undergraduate and Tulane University Law School where she served as Managing Editor of the Tulane Environmental Law Journal and worked at the school’s Environmental Law Clinic. After graduation, while working as an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP, in addition to practicing in the area of commercial litigation, she engaged in pro bono work representing survivors of domestic violence at the Legal Aid Society, winning the organization’s Outstanding Pro Bono Representative Award in 2001. She then served as a Staff Attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit for two years.
From 2005-2013 Ms. Abudu participated in the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) Voting Rights Project in Georgia, first as a Staff Attorney and then as a Senior Staff Attorney, arguing cases to protect the fundamental right to vote in the Fifth, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits. In 2013 she became the Legal Director for the ACLU of Florida where she managed litigation on a wide range of civil rights issues, including free speech, religious freedom, and employment discrimination. In 2019, she started as Deputy Legal Director for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) where she oversaw the creation of the Center’s Voting Rights Practice Group and supervised litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits. She also currently serves as the SPLC’s Director for Strategic Litigation. She is a leading civil rights litigator and voting rights expert and has substantial appellate experience before the U. S. Supreme Court and numerous federal circuit courts.
In addition to her impressive academic and professional credentials, we note that Ms. Abudu, if confirmed, will bring diversity to this court, being the first African American woman to sit on the court and the first person of color from Georgia to sit on the court. In addition to her strong professional credentials, her experience as the daughter of immigrants from Ghana means she will bring a diverse experiential background, and her extensive civil rights experience shows a demonstrated commitment to fair and equal justice for all.
For all these reasons, we strongly urge swift confirmation of this exceedingly qualified nominee.
Sincerely,
William Samuel
Director, Government Affairs