Biden Taps Prosecutor With Essex County Ties For Federal Judge Seat

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — President Joe Biden recently announced his plans to nominate four people to federal judge positions, including a longtime prosecutor with ties to Essex and Union counties in New Jersey.

Jamel Semper is among Biden’s 38th round of nominees for federal judicial positions, the president announced Wednesday.

Semper is a nominee for the U.S. District Court for New Jersey. According to a news release from the White House:

“Jamel Semper has been an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey since 2018. He currently serves as Deputy Chief of that Office’s Criminal Division. From 2013 to 2018, Mr. Semper served as an assistant prosecutor in the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and from 2008 to 2013 as an assistant prosecutor in the Union County Prosecutor’s Office. Mr. Semper served as a law clerk for Judge Harold Fullilove on New Jersey’s Essex County Superior Court from 2007 to 2008. He received his J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law in 2007 and his B.A. from Hampton University in 2003.”

Semper and the other three nominees are “extraordinarily qualified, experienced and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution,” the White House stated.

If confirmed, Semper would be the ninth federal district judge of New Jersey that Biden has nominated and the Senate has confirmed, including Julien X. Neals, Zahid Quraishi, Christine O’Hearn, Karen Williams, Georgette Castner, Evelyn Padin, Michael Fabiarz, and Robert Kirsch.

Sen. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker of New Jersey applauded Biden’s nomination of Semper, who would succeed John Michael Vazquez, who is retiring.

Semper has received support from both of New Jersey’s U.S. senators throughout the nomination process.

“For years, Mr. Semper has served the Garden State with fairness and compassion, dedicating his career to keeping New Jerseyans safe,” Menendez said. “Thanks to his community-focused approach to law enforcement, he enjoys the strong support of major voices and organizations within New Jersey’s diverse communities of color.”

“Should he be confirmed, Mr. Semper would further our collective effort to diversify our federal bench and help ensure that all individuals regardless of their background have access to equal justice under the law,” Menendez added.

Booker said Semper is a “highly qualified nominee” with a distinguished legal career and years of service to New Jersey at the state and federal levels.

“I’m confident in his ability to preside over cases fairly and impartially,” Booker said. “I thank President Biden for nominating Jamel Semper, and I look forward to his hearing before the Judiciary Committee and confirmation by the Senate.”

Menendez and Booker pointed out that Semper also has ties to the state’s largest city, Newark:

“Jamel Semper has been a prosecutor for nearly his entire career, and previously served as Director of the Special Prosecution Unit in the Essex County Prosecutors Office. He began his career in the Violent Crimes Unit at the United States Attorneys and has since held the positions of head of the Newark Violent Crime Unit, Chief of the Organized Crime and Gang Unit, and Chief of the Violent Crime Unit. Jamel is the current Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division at the United States Attorneys’ Office in which he establishes and implements the USAO’s violent crime reduction strategy.”

Semper also got an endorsement from New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

“I am thrilled to see President Biden’s nomination of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamel Semper to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey,” Murphy said. “His extensive legal experience, coupled with his commitment to public service, makes him well-qualified and ideally suited for the federal bench, and I congratulate him on his nomination.”

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