Maria Araujo Kahn

Second Circuit
	Court of Appeals
Judgeships
	Posts: 13
	Judges: 13
	Vacancies: 0
Judges
	Chief: Debra Livingston
	Active judges: Joseph Bianco, Maria Araujo Kahn, Eunice Lee, Debra Livingston, Raymond Lohier, Steven Menashi, Sarah Ann Leilani Merriam, William Nardini, Alison J. Nathan, Michael H. Park, Myrna Pérez, Beth Robinson, Richard Sullivan; Senior judges:; Jose Cabranes, Guido Calabresi, Susan L. Carney, Denny Chin, Dennis Jacobs, Amalya Kearse, Pierre Leval, Gerard Lynch, Jon Newman, Barrington Parker, Jr., Rosemary Pooler, Reena Raggi, Robert Sack, Chester Straub, John Walker, Richard Wesley

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Maria Araujo Kahn
	Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Progress
	Confirmed 220 days after nomination.
	Nominated: August 1, 2022
	ABA Rating: Well qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: September 21, 2022
	Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: February 2, 2023
	Confirmed: March 9, 2023
	Vote: 51-42

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Maria Araujo Kahn is a federal judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on August 1, 2022, and confirmed by the United States Senate on March 9, 2023, by a vote of 51-42.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is one of 13 U.S. courts of appeal. They are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Kahn was a judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court. She assumed office in 2017. Kahn became a member of the court by appointment. She was appointed by Democratic Gov. Dan Malloy (D) in 2017 to the seat Carmen E. Espinosa vacated.^[6] Her service ended on March 10, 2023 when she joined the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2023-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On July 29, 2022, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate Kahn to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.^[2] He officially nominated her on August 1, 2022.^[3] Kahn's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2023.^[7] The president renominated Kahn on the same day.^[4] She was confirmed by a 51-42 vote of the U.S. Senate on March 9, 2023. Kahn received commission on March 10, 2023.^[8]^[1] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Kahn by a vote of 51-42 on March 9, 2023.^[1] Kahn received commission on March 10, 2022.^[8] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Maria Araujo Kahn confirmation vote (March 9, 2023)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	45	0	3
Republican	3	42	4
Independent	3	0	0
Total	51	42	7

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Kahn's nomination on September 21, 2022. Kahn was reported to the full Senate on December 1, 2022, after a 12-10 committee vote.^[9]

In a committee hearing on February 2, 2023, Kahn was reported to the full Senate, after a 11-9 committee vote.^[5]

Nomination

On July 29, 2022, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate Kahn to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The president officially nominated Kahn on August 1, 2022.^[2]^[3] Kahn's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2023.^[10] The president renominated Kahn on the same day.^[4]

Kahn was nominated to replace Judge Jose Cabranes, who will assume senior status upon the confirmation of his successor.^[3]

The American Bar Association rated Kahn well qualified.^[11] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Kahn's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2023.^[12] The president renominated Kahn on the same day.^[4]

Connecticut Supreme Court (2017-2023)

Gov. Malloy appointed Kahn to the Connecticut Supreme Court. She took the bench on November 1, 2017.^[13] Her service ended on March 10, 2023 when she joined the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.^[8]

Connecticut Appellate Court (2017)

Gov. Malloy appointed Kahn to the Connecticut Appellate Court. She took the bench in May 2017.^[14]

Connecticut Superior Court (2014)

Kahn was reappointed to the state superior court.^[15]

Biography

Early life and education

Kahn was born in Angola, Africa and moved to the U.S. when she was 10 years old. She received a B.A. cum laude from New York University in 1986 and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 1989.^[13]

Professional career

After graduating from law school, Kahn clerked for former federal district court Judge Peter Dorsey. Kahn served as an assistant U.S. attorney and prosecuted healthcare and financial fraud cases. Gov. Rell (R) appointed Kahn to the superior court in 2006, where she served until Malloy appointed her to the state appellate court in May 2017.^[14] In February 2013, Kahn was named as one of five finalists being considered for nomination to a seat on the U.S. District Court in Connecticut left vacant when Judge Mark Kravitz passed away in September 2012.^[16] Malloy appointed Kahn to the state supreme court in October 2017, and she took the bench on November 1.^[13] She left the court after joining the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2023.^[8]

Kahn received Department of Justice Special Achievement Awards from 1998 to 2006. As of June 2021, she co-chaired the Judicial Branch’s Access to Justice Commission and the Limited English Proficiency Committee.^[13]

About the court

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is a federal appellate court with appellate jurisdiction. It hears appeals from all of the circuit courts within its jurisdiction and its rulings may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Appeals are heard in the Thurgood Marshall Federal Courthouse in New York City.

Four judges of the Second Circuit went on to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. John Marshall Harlan II was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1955 by Dwight Eisenhower, Thurgood Marshall was appointed in 1967 by Lyndon Johnson, and Sonia Sotomayor was appointed in 2009 by Barack Obama.

The Second Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over cases heard in one of its subsidiary districts. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law. Appeals of rulings by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit are petitioned to the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice Sonia Sotomayor is the circuit justice for the Second Circuit.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit's territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York, and Vermont. The court has appellate jurisdiction over the United States district courts in the following federal judicial districts:

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

Analysis

Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)

See also: Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship and Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters

Last updated: June 15, 2020

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.

The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.^[17]

The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:

Strong Democrat
Mild Democrat
Indeterminate^[18]
Mild Republican
Strong Republican

This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.

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