DeAndrea G. Benjamin

DeAndrea Gist Benjamin (née DeAndrea Donale Gist;[1] born 1972)[2] is an American lawyer serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She previously served as a judge of the South Carolina Circuit Court for the fifth district.

DeAndrea Benjamin
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Assumed office
February 21, 2023
Appointed byJoe Biden
Preceded byHenry F. Floyd
Judge of the South Carolina Circuit Court for the 5th Circuit
In office
February 2, 2011 – February 21, 2023
Appointed byGeneral Assembly
Personal details
Born
DeAndrea Donale Gist

1972 (age 50–51)
Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.
Spouse
​
(m. 2002)​
Children2 daughters
EducationWinthrop University (BA)
University of South Carolina (JD)

Early life and education

Benjamin was born in 1972 in Columbia, South Carolina, to Donald and Adrienne Gist. She graduated from Columbia High School in 1990.[3] Benjamin earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Winthrop University in 1994 and a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1997.[4]

Career

In 1997 and 1998, Benjamin served as a law clerk for Judge L. Casey Manning of the fifth judicial circuit of the South Carolina Circuit Court. In 1998 and 1999, she was an assistant solicitor in the Juvenile and Family Court Division of the Fifth Judicial Circuit Solicitor's Office. From 1999 to 2001, she served as an assistant attorney general in the South Carolina Attorney General's Office. Benjamin worked at the Gist Law Firm from 2001 to 2011.[5]

In 2001, Governor Jim Hodges appointed Benjamin to the Juvenile Parole Board where she served from July 2001 to June 2004. From 2004 to 2011, she was a Columbia city judge.[6] In February 2010, Benjamin had an unsuccessful bid for family court (Fifth Judicial Circuit Family Court Seat 1).[7] She was appointed to serve as a judge of the South Carolina Circuit Court for the fifth district in 2011.[8] In 2021, Benjamin lost a bid for the South Carolina Court of Appeals. The legislature instead chose then-family court judge Jay Vinson of Florence in a 94–63 vote.[9]

Federal judicial service

On August 9, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Benjamin to serve as a United States circuit judge for the Fourth Circuit.[10] On September 6, 2022, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Benjamin to the seat vacated by Judge Henry F. Floyd, who assumed senior status on December 31, 2021.[11] House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn recommended Benjamin for the vacancy.[12] On November 15, 2022, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[13] During her confirmation hearing, Republican senators questioned her decisions granting bond and early release of defendants.[14][15][16] On December 8, 2022, her nomination was favorably reported by the committee by a 13–9 vote.[17][18][19] On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate; she was renominated later the same day.[20] On February 2, 2023, her nomination was favorably reported by the committee by a 12–8 vote.[21] On February 2, 2023, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on her nomination.[22] On February 7, 2023, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 54–43 vote.[23] On February 9, 2023, her nomination was confirmed by a 53–44 vote.[24] She received her judicial commission on February 21, 2023.[25] She became the second African American woman to serve on the Fourth Circuit,[26] and the first African American woman from South Carolina to serve on the Fourth Circuit.[27]

Personal life

Benjamin married Stephen K. Benjamin in 2002.[7] He served as mayor of Columbia from 2010 to 2022. They have two daughters.[3] In December 2013, Benjamin's brother Donald Gist Jr. was shot and killed in a parking lot of a Queens Mini-Mart store in Charlotte, North Carolina.[28]

See also

References
  1. "Columbia High awards diplomas". The State (Columbia, SC). June 14, 1990.
  2. "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. November 15, 2022.
  3. "Judge DeAndrea G. Benjamin". Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  4. "President Biden Names Twenty-Fifth Round of Judicial Nominees". The White House. August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  5. "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. November 15, 2022.
  6. "Biden picks longtime Columbia judge as nominee for federal court". wltx.com. August 9, 2022.
  7. "Judicial Merit Selection Commission – Personal Data Questionnaire" (PDF). Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  8. "Biden to nominate SC Judge DeAndrea Gist Benjamin to 4th Circuit Court of Appeals". MSN. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  9. Adcox, Seanna. "President Biden to nominate SC Judge DeAndrea Benjamin to 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals". Post and Courier.
  10. Monk, John (August 9, 2022). "Biden to nominate SC Judge DeAndrea Gist Benjamin to 4th Circuit Court of Appeals". The State. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  11. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. September 6, 2022.
  12. "Biden to nominate SC Judge DeAndrea Gist Benjamin to 4th Circuit Court of Appeals".
  13. "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. November 15, 2022.
  14. "SC Judge Benjamin praised by Democrats, grilled by GOP senators over past case decisions".
  15. "Fourth Circuit Nominee Faces GOP Flak Despite Bipartisan Support".
  16. Scarcella, Mike (November 15, 2022). "Senate Democrats ramp up nominee push, weighing 4th Circuit pick". Reuters.
  17. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – December 8, 2022" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  18. "Biden Fourth Circuit Nominee Benjamin Clears Judiciary Committee".
  19. Raymond, Nate (December 8, 2022). "U.S. Senate advances Biden's 4th Circuit nominee Benjamin". Reuters.
  20. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 3, 2023.
  21. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – February 2, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  22. "PN88 — DeAndrea Gist Benjamin — The Judiciary". Congress.gov. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  23. "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: DeAndrea Gist Benjamin to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit)". United States Senate. February 7, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  24. "On the Nomination (Confirmation: DeAndrea Gist Benjamin, of South Carolina, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit)". United States Senate. February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  25. DeAndrea G. Benjamin at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  26. "Senate confirms SC Judge DeAndrea Benjamin to powerful 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals".
  27. "SC Judge DeAndrea Benjamin confirmed by US Senate for high-profile 4th Circuit Court seat".
  28. "SC mayor's brother-in-law killed in Charlotte". Associated Press.
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