Mary Rowland, nominated in June by President Trump to be a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, seems to have sailed through her confirmation hearing. She’s the only openly LGBTQ person among Trump’s nearly 140 judicial nominees, and has two grown children with her spouse Julie Justicz.
Rowland “enjoyed bipartisan support Wednesday during a breezy confirmation hearing,” reports the Washington Blade. They also note that during her confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Rowland recognized her spouse and children and spoke of her now-deceased father’s influence on her life. Both U.S. Sens. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), members of the committee, praised her work.
The Judiciary Committee must now vote on her nomination. If they approve, the full Senate will then vote on her appointment.
Rowland earned her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, and began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Julian Abele Cook, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the White House tells us. She has been a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Illinois since 2012. (Ballotpedia helpfully explains, “Federal magistrate judges are federal judges who serve in United States district courts, but they are not appointed by the president and they do not serve life terms. Magistrate judges are assigned duties by the district judges in the district in which they serve. They may preside over most phases of federal proceedings, except for criminal felony trials.”) Before serving as a magistrate judge, she spent twelve years as a partner in the Chicago firm of Hughes, Socol, Piers, Resnick & Dym, Ltd., after serving for ten years in the Chicago office of the Federal Defender; as a staff attorney and then as the office’s chief appellate attorney.
Interestingly, for this White House, the notice of her nomination also mentions that she is a member of the Gay and Lesbian Bar Association.