Power

Obama nominates out African-American to federal bench

By Natasha Barsotti • November 15, 2012 8:03 am EDT

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI — Newly reelected American President Barack Obama has nominated Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge William Thomas to serve on the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

If confirmed by the Senate, Thomas would become the first openly gay African-American judge to serve on the federal bench, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) says. Thomas was among seven new federal judges nominated Nov 14.

Obama says the seven represent his “continued commitment to ensure that the judiciary resembles the nation it serves.” Thomas is also the seventh openly gay life-tenured federal court judicial nominee named by Obama, the HRC notes.

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Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.

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