Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20010
Dear Senator:
On behalf of our 3 million members and the 50 million students they serve, we urge you VOTE YES on Judge Nancy Maldonado’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Votes on this issue may be included in NEA’s Report Card for the 118th Congress.
Before 2022, when the Senate confirmed her appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Judge Maldonado was a leading civil rights and employment lawyer. In addition to extensive litigation experience, she has brought much needed diversity to the federal bench. She was the first Hispanic judge in the state of Illinois and would be the first Latina to serve on the Seventh Circuit.
Judge Maldonado is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar and served on the editorial board of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review. After spending two years as a clerk for Judge Rubén Castillo of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, she was in private practice for two decades and litigated federal employment, civil rights, and consumer fraud cases. Initially, she represented farm workers in wage and hour cases and employees facing harassment and discrimination. Over time, her practice broadened and clients ranged from pipefitters to doctors to bricklayers.
We need fair-minded judges with broad experience and a commitment to ensuring equal justice for all, not just the wealthy and powerful. Judge Maldonado’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is an important step in that direction. We urge you to VOTE YES and advance her nomination.
Sincerely,
Marc Egan
Director of Government Relations
National Education Association
