OHIO — The White House named its eighth round of judicial nominees Thursday, and three of them are for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Two out of three of them, if given the position, would make history in their own way. 

What You Need To Know

  • Charles Esque Fleming would become the second active Black judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio

  • David Augustin Ruiz would become the first Hispanic judge for the Northern District of Ohio

  • The White House said President Joe Biden is aiming for a more diverse court system

The first is Charles Esque Fleming. Since 1991, Fleming has served as an assistant federal public defender in the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland. He would become the second active Black judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He has served as an associate at Forbes, Forbes & Associates in Cleveland from 1990 to 1991, was the investigative and paralegal staff supervisor from 2010 to 2016 and was the Cleveland Trial Team Supervisor from 2016 to 2021.

The second is David Augustin Ruiz, who has served as magistrate judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, would become the first Hispanic judge for the Northern District. Ruiz started out in Pittsburgh, working at a private practice between 2001 to 2003. Then from 2003 to 2010, he was a senior attorney at Calfee Halter & Griswold LLP in Cleveland. He then served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Ohio from 2010 to 2016. 

The third is Bridget Meehan Brennan, who started serving as acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio since January 2021. Brennan has held multiple positions throughout her career. From 2000 to 2007, she was an associate at Baker Hostetler LLP in Cleveland. She was also an ethics advisor from 2013 to 2018, chief of the Civil Rights Unit from 2015 to 2017, chief of the Criminal Division from 2017 to 2018 and first assistant from 2018 to 2021.

The three are of 14 judicial nominees in this round, including 10 for the federal bench, which brings Biden's total to 53 nominees. Nearly three-quarters of the nominees are women, more than a quarter are African American or Pacific Islanders. 

"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," the White House said. 

Related Stories