{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-menendez-applaud-nomination-of-jamel-semper-to-us-district-court-of-new-jersey", "Booker, Menendez Applaud Nomination of Jamel Semper to U.S. District Court of New Jersey", "2023-09-06", "2023", "2023-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "NJ", "Cory A. Booker", "B001288", "www.booker.senate.gov", "booker", "https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Cory Booker, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Bob Menendez (both D-N.J.) today applauded President Joe Biden\u2019s nomination of Mr. Jamel Semper to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey to succeed District Judge John Michael Vazquez. Semper has received support from both New Jersey senators throughout the nomination process as a qualified nominee that serves with a sense of justice and empathy.\n\n\u201cJamel 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\u2019m confident in his ability to preside over cases fairly and impartially. I thank President Biden for nominating Jamel Semper, and I look forward to his hearing before the Judiciary Committee and confirmation by the Senate,\u201d said Senator Booker.\n\n\u201cI am thrilled that President Biden heeded our recommendation to nominate Jamel Semper to an open seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. He is an extremely well-qualified nominee to ascend to the federal bench \u2014 an alumnus of Rutgers University School of Law, a longtime prosecutor in Union and Essex Counties, and currently the Chief of the Organized Crime and Gang Unit at the New Jersey U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office,\u201d said Senator Menendez. \u201cFor years, Mr. Semper has served the Garden State with fairness and compassion, dedicating his career to keeping New Jerseyans safe. Thanks to his community-focused approach to law enforcement, he enjoys the strong support of major voices and organizations within New Jersey\u2019s 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. I look forward to supporting Mr. Semper\u2019s confirmation on the Senate floor and urge my colleagues to do the same.\u201d\n\nJamel 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\u2019 Office in which he establishes and implements the USAO\u2019s violent crime reduction strategy.\n\nSince 2021, Senators Booker and Menendez have consistently urged President Biden to appoint federal court judges to address New Jersey\u2019s \u201cjudicial emergency\u201d of several longstanding district court vacancies prior to the Biden Administration. If confirmed, Mr. Semper would be the ninth Federal District Judge of New Jersey that President Joe Biden has nominated and the Senate has confirmed, including Julien X. Neals, Zahid Quraishi, Christine O\u2019Hearn, Karen Williams, Georgette Castner, Evelyn Padin, Michael Fabiarz, and Robert Kirsch.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T00:37:48Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.booker.senate.gov/news/press/booker-menendez-applaud-nomination-of-jamel-semper-to-us-district-court-of-new-jersey"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7700740825384855, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}