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Maria Araújo Kahn
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office March 10, 2023
Appointed by	Joe Biden
Preceded by	José A. Cabranes
Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court
In office November 1, 2017 – March 10, 2023
Appointed by	Dannel Malloy
Preceded by	Carmen E. Espinosa
Succeeded by	Nora Dannehy
Judge of the Connecticut Appellate Court
In office January 2017 – October 31, 2017
Appointed by	Dannel Malloy
Judge of the Connecticut Superior Court
In office April 2006 – January 2017
Appointed by	Jodi Rell
Personal details
Born	Maria José Violante Dias Araújo (1964-08-20) August 20, 1964 (age 60) Benguela, Angola
Education	New York University (BA) Fordham University (JD)

Maria Araújo Kahn (born August 20, 1964) is an Angolan-born American lawyer who is serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She previously served as an associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court from 2017 to 2023.

Early life and education

Kahn was born in 1964 in Benguela, Angola to Portuguese parents. She immigrated to the United States when she was ten years old and speaks fluent Portuguese and Spanish. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University in 1986 and her Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 1989.

Career

Kahn clerked for Judge Peter Collins Dorsey of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut from 1989 to 1991 before serving as a public defender for the State of Connecticut from 1991 to 1993. From 1993 to 1997, Kahn was a staff attorney at the Connecticut Office of Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Disabilities. She then served as an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting medical fraud, computer fraud, and white collar criminal cases from 1997 to 2006. She was also an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Connecticut Superior Court

Kahn was appointed to the New Haven County Superior Court in April 2006.

Consideration for federal district court

In February 2013, Kahn was named as one of five finalists being considered for nomination to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut left vacant when Judge Mark R. Kravitz died in September 2012.

Connecticut Appellate Court

On May 2, 2017, Governor Dannel Malloy nominated Kahn to the Connecticut Appellate Court. Her appointment and confirmation created a female majority on the court.

Connecticut Supreme Court

On October 4, 2017, Governor Malloy nominated Kahn to the Connecticut Supreme Court. She was confirmed and sworn into office on November 1, 2017.

Federal judicial service

On July 29, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Kahn to serve as a United States circuit judge for the Second Circuit. On August 1, 2022, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Kahn to the seat that was vacated by Judge José A. Cabranes, who announced his intent to assume senior status upon confirmation of a successor. On September 21, 2022, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On December 1, 2022, her nomination was favorably reported by the committee by a 12–10 vote. On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate; she was renominated later the same day. On February 2, 2023, her nomination was favorably reported by the committee by an 11–9 vote. On February 13, 2023, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on her nomination. On February 16, 2023, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 50–44 vote. On March 9, 2023, her nomination was confirmed by a 51–42 vote. She received her judicial commission on March 10, 2023.

See also

• List of African American federal judges
• List of African American jurists
• List of Jewish American jurists

References

1. "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
2. "Biden taps Maria Araujo Kahn of CT Supreme Court for 2nd Circuit". The CT Mirror. 2022-07-29.
3. "Biographies of Supreme Court Justices: Honorable Maria Araujo Kahn". jud.ct.gov. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
4. ^ "President Biden Names Twenty-Fourth Round of Judicial Nominees" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. July 29, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
5. "Maria Araujo Kahn Fact Sheet".
6. "Biden taps Portuguese-American Justice Maria Araújo Kahn of Conn. For 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals".
7. "Cheshire resident nominated to serve as Connecticut Appellate Court judge". May 3, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
8. Mahony, Edmund (February 28, 2013). "Five Finalists For Open Federal Judgeship". Hartford Courant. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
9. Altimari, Daniela (May 2, 2017). "Malloy Nominates Two Women To State's Appellate Court". Hartford Courant. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
10. Kramer, Jack (May 2, 2017). "If nominations OK'd, women to hold majority on Connecticut Appellate Court". The Middletown Press. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
11. "Senate Joint Resolution No. 49". Connecticut General Assembly. 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
12. Pazniokas, Mark (October 4, 2017). "Malloy names Mullins, Kahn to Supreme Court". The Connecticut Mirror. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
13. Pazniokas, Mark (November 1, 2017). "Legislators confirm nominees to Supreme, Appellate courts". The Connecticut Mirror. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
14. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. August 1, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
15. "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. September 21, 2022.
16. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – December 1, 2022" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
17. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 3, 2023.
18. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – February 2, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
19. "PN91 — Maria Araujo Kahn — The Judiciary". Congress.gov. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
20. "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Maria Araujo Kahn to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit)". United States Senate. February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
21. "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Maria Araujo Kahn, of Connecticut, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit)". United States Senate. March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
22. Maria Araújo Kahn at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

External links

• Maria Araújo Kahn at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Maria Araújo Kahn at Ballotpedia
• Official Biography on Supreme Court website

• 1964 births
• Living people
• People from Benguela
• 20th-century American judges
• 20th-century American lawyers
• 20th-century American women lawyers
• 20th-century American women judges
• 21st-century American judges
• 21st-century American women judges
• African-American judges
• Angolan emigrants to the United States
• Angolan people of Portuguese descent
• Assistant United States Attorneys
• Connecticut lawyers
• Fordham University School of Law alumni
• Judges of the Connecticut Appellate Court
• Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court
• New York University alumni
• Public defenders
• Superior court judges in the United States
• United States court of appeals judges appointed by Joe Biden
• 20th-century African-American lawyers
• American people of Portuguese descent