Senate Judiciary Committee hears Semper’s nomination for federal judgeship

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamel Semper appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, the first step on his path towards being confirmed as a United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey.

Semper, who was nominated by President Joe Biden last month to succeed Judge John Michael Vazquez, gave brief remarks and was questioned by senators at today’s hearing; the actual committee vote to advance his nomination likely won’t come for at least several weeks. Once Semper is approved by the committee, his nomination will be able to proceed to the Senate floor.

The 41-year-old Semper was recommended to the White House by Senator Bob Menendez, and he was introduced at today’s hearing by both Menendez and Senator Cory Booker. It’s standard practice for home-state senators to introduce judicial nominees, though Menendez’s recent indictment on federal bribery charges cast a pall over his remarks.

“I can honestly say that Mr. Semper’s relentless commitment to public service, combined with his temperament, intellect, and the trust he has built with New Jerseyans, is exactly what we look for in a federal judge,” Menendez said. “He will no doubt be an asset to New Jersey’s federal bench.”

“This guy is incredible,” Booker added. “This man is incredibly Jersey. How Jersey is he, do you ask? He is a graduate of Rutgers Law School; he is a native son of Essex County; he is more Jersey than the Garden State Parkway, and he, like many people who have driven that notable road, has paid it forward. He’s paid his tolls.”

Semper received scant questioning from senators at the hearing; much of the attention, especially on the GOP side of the aisle, was instead directed at an Oregon judge who also came before the committee today.

What little interrogation Semper did face largely came from Democratic senators, who were predisposed to ask friendlier questions about his time as an assistant U.S. Attorney and his service in the Essex and Union County Prosecutor’s Offices. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), for example, asked Semper to reflect on his experiences prosecuting New Jersey’s first case under the state’s domestic terrorism statute.

“The lessons that I learned in that particular matter were, one, it was a collective effort by law enforcement,” Semper responded. “I have found, generally, in my experience with law enforcement, that there is no I in team, and collaboration is really key to identifying threats and neutralizing them… Certainly, it was a case unlike others I had dealt with up to that point.”

Senator Alex Padilla (D-California) asked Semper, as well as the other four nominees before the committee today, how he would work to advance diversity within his office and in the judiciary.

“I think diversity is very important,” Semper said. “When you draw more people into our institutions, particularly institutions like the judicial system, I think that helps to affirm the confidence that the community must have in our institutions. I would also just say, I think academic diversity is important as well. I came from a state law school. These positions, they are great, and they are stocked with a lot of people from the top schools. But I think there’s a lot of talent within our state schools.”

The toughest question, though, came from Booker. 

“Your mother is extraordinary,” Booker said. “Is that true or false?”

Semper gave the only answer he could: “Senator, before God and country, my mother is quite extraordinary.”

Semper is one of two New Jersey District Court nominees currently pending before the Senate; the other, Edward Kiel, was nominated by Joe Biden today (though the New Jersey Globe reported last month that he was set to be nominated soon). It seems relatively unlikely that either will face serious issues in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Assuming Semper and Kiel are eventually confirmed and seated on the bench, all 17 seats on the District Court will be filled, ten of them by Biden-nominated judges. One New Jersey seat on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, meanwhile, still has no announced nominee after Judge Joseph Greenaway stepped down in June.