President Biden Names Forty-Ninth Round of Judicial Nominees

The President is announcing his intent to nominate one individual to a federal circuit court and three individuals to federal district courts—all of whom are extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution.

These choices also continue to fulfill the President’s promise to ensure that the nation’s courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country—both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds.

This will be President Biden’s forty-ninth round of nominees for federal judicial positions, bringing the number of announced federal judicial nominees to 240.

United States Circuit Court Announcement

1. Judge Embry J. Kidd: Nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Judge Embry J. Kidd has been a United States Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida since 2019. Judge Kidd previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida from 2014 to 2019. From 2009 to 2014, Judge Kidd worked as an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, D.C. Judge Kidd served as a law clerk for Judge Roger L. Gregory on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 2008 to 2009. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 2008 and his B.A. from Emory University in 2005.

United States District Court Announcements

1. Judge Adam B. Abelson: Nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Maryland

Judge Adam B. Abelson has been a United States Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland since 2023. Prior to his judicial service, Judge Abelson worked in private practice at Zuckerman Spaeder LLP from 2012 to 2023, rising from associate to partner. He served as a law clerk for Judge Andre M. Davis on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 2011 to 2012 and Judge Catherine C. Blake on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland from 2010 to 2011. Judge Abelson received his J.D., magna cum laude, from New York University School of Law in 2010 and his B.A., cum laude, from Princeton University in 2005.

2. Judge Joseph F. Saporito, Jr.: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Judge Joseph F. Saporito, Jr. has been a United States Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania since 2015 and has been the Court’s Chief United States Magistrate Judge since February 2024. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Saporito served as a part-time Assistant Public Defender in the Office of the Public Defender for the County of Luzerne, Pennsylvania from 1985 to 2015, while concurrently maintaining a private legal practice at Saporito & Saporito and then Saporito, Saporito & Falcone. Judge Saporito received his J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law in 1985, and his B.A. from Villanova University in 1982.

3. Judge Meredith A. Vacca: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Western District of New York

Judge Meredith A. Vacca has been a judge on the Monroe County Court since 2021 and an Acting Justice on the New York State Supreme Court since 2023. Judge Vacca previously served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office in Rochester, New York from 2007 to 2020. From 2005 to 2007, she worked as an associate at Hamberger & Weiss LLP. Judge Vacca received her J.D. from the University of Buffalo School of Law in 2005 and her B.A. from Colgate University in 2002.

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