EASTON, Pa. — President Joe Biden nominated a Philadelphia-based criminal defense attorney to fill the vacant bench seat in Easton's federal courthouse Thursday.
Catherine Henry, an assistant defender in the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, was one of four judicial nominees Biden put forward.
His administration noted that by nominating four women of different backgrounds, Biden was living up to a campaign promise to make the bench more reflective of the country's diversity.
The four candidates all are "extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution," the administration said in a news release.
Career highlights
Henry graduated with a bachelor's degree from Drew University in 1991 before earning her J.D. from the District of Columbia School of Law in 1995.
After working as a staff attorney at the Feminist Majority Foundation in Arlington, Va., she became a public defender in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in 1996.
"This is a major win for Pennsylvania."U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa.
She left that role in 2001 to work as a public defender at the federal level. She has served as the office's senior litigator for 16 years, according to her biography on the Federal Community Defender Office's website.
“I was so happy to recommend Cathy to the White House, and President Biden has made an excellent choice in nominating her. This is a major win for Pennsylvania," said U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., in a news release.
“Catherine Henry has already served the people of Pennsylvania’s Eastern District for more than two decades with honor and distinction as a public defender, and there is no doubt in my mind that she will continue to serve them with a firm dedication to the rule of law as a U.S. District Court Judge," said U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.
Judge Ed Smith vacancy
While the president nominates federal judicial candidates, U.S. senators typically offer recommendations for judicial vacancies within their own states. To be sworn into office, the candidates must be approved by a simple majority of the Senate.
If confirmed, Henry will sit in the Lehigh Valley, marking Biden’s eighth federal judge appointed in Pennsylvania, the senators said.
Should Henry gain the Senate's approval, she would fill the vacancy left by the death of U.S. District Court Judge Edward Smith. The former Northampton County judge and Navy captain died in November after serving nine years in the federal courthouse.
Smith, a Republican, was nominated by President Barack Obama at the recommendation of Casey and former U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
