Mustafa T. Kasubhai

Mustafa Taher Kasubhai (born 1970)[1] is an American lawyer who has served as a United States magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the District of Oregon since 2018. He previously served as a judge on the Lane County Circuit Court from 2007 to 2018.

Mustafa T. Kasubhai
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon
Assumed office
September 21, 2018
Preceded byJolie A. Russo
Judge for the Lane County Circuit Court
In office
2007–2018
Appointed byTed Kulongoski
Personal details
Born1970 (age 52–53)
Reseda, California, U.S.
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BS)
University of Oregon (JD)
Known forFirst Muslim-American federal judge
WebsiteDistrict Court Webpage

Early life and career

Kasubhai was born in the Los Angeles suburb Reseda in 1970,[1] and grew up in the Los Angeles suburb Canoga Park. His parents are Indian immigrants, having moved to the United States from Mumbai in the 1960s.[2]

Kasubhai graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992, with a degree in business administration.[3] He completed his Juris Doctor degree at the University of Oregon School of Law in 1996, where he served as an associate editor on the Oregon Law Review, a graduate teaching fellow for the University of Oregon, and President of the Student Bar Association.[3]

Kasubhai began his private legal career in a small civil plaintiff's firm until he opened his own practice, the Law Offices of Mustafa T. Kasubhai.[3] He worked primarily between Klamath Falls and Eugene, Oregon serving a wide geographic area including rural communities, representing workers and unions in workers compensation cases and plaintiffs in civil cases primarily involving torts and work-related injuries.[4]

In 2003, Governor Ted Kulongoski nominated Kasubhai to serve on the Oregon Workers' Compensation Board as one of its labor members in Salem, Oregon.[2] He remained there until joining the state bench 2007.[4]

Kasubhai has been an active member of a number of Oregon legal associations and diversity groups including the Oregon State Bar Board of Bar Examiners, the Dean's Advisory Council for the University of Oregon School of Law, Lane County Bar Association, Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association (OAPABA), Oregon Gay and Lesbian Lawyers Association (OGALA), and the Oregon chapters of Hispanic Bar Association and South Asian Bar Association.[3]

He received the Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) in 2018, and the Justice Lynn Nakamoto Trailblazer Award from OAPABA that same year. Kasubhai also co-founded the Oregon Mediation Diversity Project in 2020.[3]

Judicial career

Governor Kulongoski appointed Kasubhai as a judge on the Lane County Circuit Court in 2007.[3] He was re-elected to another six-year term in 2014.[2] Kasubhai was selected to join the federal bench in September 2018 from a pool of more than 50 applicants.[5]

Kasubhai is the first Muslim-American to serve on the federal bench in the United States and was the first South Asian-American and Muslim-American judge to be appointed to the Lane County Circuit Court.[6] Kasubhai regularly presents at continuing legal education programs and legal events.[7][8]

Mustafa T. Kasubhai U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing - October 4, 2023

Nomination to federal district court

On June 1, 2023, Kasubhai was one of six names U.S. senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley submitted to the White House for a vacancy on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon created by Marco A. Hernandez, who will assume senior status on August 21, 2024.[9]

On September 6, 2023, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Kasubhai to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.[10] On September 18, 2023, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Kasubhai to the seat being vacated by Judge Ann Aiken, who will assume senior status on December 29, 2023.[11] On October 4, 2023, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[12] During his confirmation hearing, Republican senators questioned him over a ruling that he made in 2020 regarding to the George Floyd protests and his statements & writings about diversity, equity, and inclusion.[13] His nomination is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Personal life

In his spare time, Kasubhai enjoys woodworking, home renovation, and power tools.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  2. Newton, Cynthia (2019). "Multnomah Bar Lawyer, page 11" (PDF). Multnomah Bar Association.
  3. Kasubhai, Mustafa T. (2019). "Kasubhai Resume" (PDF).
  4. Bailey, Kirk. "New judge brings changes to Lane County court". Oregon Quarterly. Fall 2009: 48.
  5. Buehler, Dustin. "Memorandum" (PDF).
  6. "Oregon Federal District Court Appoints First Muslim American to be a Federal Judge".
  7. Language in the Courts, retrieved 2022-10-21
  8. Hon Mustafa Kasubhai CEJ 2022 Kick Off Speech, retrieved 2022-10-21
  9. Names of 6 finalists forwarded to White House for upcoming federal court vacancy in Oregon, retrieved 2023-06-01
  10. "President Biden Names Thirty-Eighth Round of Judicial Nominees" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. September 18, 2023.
  12. "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. October 3, 2023.
  13. Raymond, Nate. "Senate Republicans question Oregon judicial nominee's support for diversity". Reuters. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  14. "Blacks in Government - The Honorable Magistrate Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai | "Equity & Privilege: Friends or Foes?"".


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