Clarke Chose Public Service over Profit

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on today’s Senate votes on the nomination of Jessica Clarke to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Today, the Senate will confirm a highly qualified judicial nominee from New York, who I was very proud to recommend: Jessica Clarke, to serve as a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York.

Ms. Clarke had all the opportunities in the world to enter private practice in New York, but instead she chose the path of public service. She’s worked in Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the New York Attorney General’s Civil Rights Bureau. She’s a great civil rights lawyer and I’m certain she will make an excellent member of the federal bench.

It would have been difficult to imagine someone like Ms. Clarke being nominated to the federal bench a generation ago, but because of her talent and her dedication to the rule of law, she is rightfully taking her place on the bench today. Our courts will be better for it, and I look forward to supporting her confirmation, and urge my colleagues to vote in her favor.