Debo Adegbile

Last updated

Debo Adegbile
BornDecember 1966 (age 57)
The Bronx, New York, United States
Education Connecticut College (BA)
New York University (JD)
OccupationLawyer

Debo Patrick Adegbile (born December 1966) is an American lawyer in private practice who also serves as a Commissioner for the United States Civil Rights Commission. [1] He was previously nominated to serve as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. The Senate ultimately failed to confirm his nomination. The Fraternal Order of Police objected vehemently to a brief he filed arguing that there was racial discrimination in jury selection for the trial of Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of the murder of a law enforcement officer. [2]

Contents

Adegbile also worked for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and as a senior counsel on the staff of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

On December 15, 2016, the White House appointed Adegbile to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. This position does not require senate confirmation. [3]

Early life and education

Born Adebowale Patrick Akande Adegbile in New York City, Adegbile is the son of a Nigerian father and an Irish immigrant mother. [4] He was raised by his single mother. He also was a child actor on the children's TV show Sesame Street during the 1970s, playing the character Debo and performing in episodes for nine years. [4] [5]

Adegbile studied at Lehman College in 1986 and 1987 and earned a bachelor's degree in 1991 from Connecticut College. He then earned a J.D. degree from New York University School of Law in 1994. [6]

Professional career

During law school, Adegbile served as a legal assistant in the summer of 1991 for the New York law firm Solin & Breindel and then was a summer associate during the summer of 1992 for Morrison & Foerster. In the summer of 1993, Adegbile served as a summer associate for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He then joined the firm full-time as an associate in the firm's litigation department in 1994, holding that position until 2001. [6]

In 2001, Adegbile joined the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where he served as assistant counsel from 2001 until 2004, associate director of litigation from 2004 until 2007, director of litigation from 2007 until 2010, associate director-counsel/director of litigation from 2010 until 2014, acting president and director counsel from 2012 until 2013, and special counsel in 2013. Adegbile argued his first case before the United States Supreme Court in 2008, making a defense of the Voting Rights Act. [5]

Consideration for the D.C. Circuit

In October 2011, blogger Ed Whelan reported that the White House was considering nominating Adegbile to one of three vacancies at the time on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. [7] Shortly thereafter, The Washington Post reported that President Obama had asked the American Bar Association to evaluate Adegbile's credentials, [8] but the White House did not submit his name. [4]

Nomination to be Assistant Attorney General

In 2013,[ when? ] Adegbile joined the staff of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary as a senior counsel with a focus on legislative matters.

On November 18, 2013, President Obama nominated Adegbile to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, to succeed Thomas Perez, who had left the position to serve as United States Secretary of Labor. [9]

U.S Senators from both parties objected to Adegbile's signing of an appeal for Black Panther member Mumia Abu-Jamal who was convicted in 1982 for the first-degree murder of Daniel Faulkner, a Philadelphia police officer, on December 9, 1981. Mumia Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death, although the death sentence later was vacated because of problems with jury instructions. [4] Adegbile and other lawyers filed an unsuccessful amicus curiae brief with the United States Supreme Court in 2009, arguing that the conviction was invalid because of racial discrimination in jury selection. [4]

In January 2014, Adegbile's nomination was returned to Obama, who renominated Adegbile within days. [10]

On February 6, 2014, the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary reported Adegbile's nomination to the full Senate in a 10–8, party-line vote. [11] On February 27, 2014, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on Adegbile's nomination, in an effort to cut off a filibuster by Republican senators. [12]

On March 5, 2014, the U.S. Senate failed to advance Adegbile's nomination in a 47–52 vote blocking his confirmation. [13] [14] Senate Republicans unanimously voted against him, particularly because of his appeal for Abu-Jamal, along with seven Democratic Senators, including Abu-Jamal's home state senator, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.

On September 15, 2014, Adegbile announced his withdrawal as a nominee to be assistant attorney general, and that he would be going into private practice, joining the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. [15]

Appointment to be a Commissioner on the United States Commission on Civil Rights

On December 15, 2016, President Barack Obama announced his appointment of Debo P. Adegbile to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. [16] [17]

Personal life

Adegbile's first name "Adebowale" means "crown comes home" in Yoruba. [18] He is married to Susan Haskell-Adegbile, and they live in New York City with their two daughters, Sela and Devan. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hampton Dellinger</span> American lawyer and politician (born 1967)

Hampton Yeats Dellinger is an American attorney and political candidate who is serving as Special Counsel of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. He previously served as the United States Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy and was a partner at Boies, Schiller & Flexner and Robinson, Bradshaw, and Hinson.

Tigre Hill is a filmmaker known for tackling controversial subjects. He is perhaps best known for his first documentary, The Shame of a City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valerie E. Caproni</span> American judge (born 1955)

Valerie Elaine Caproni is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Dawn Elizabeth Johnsen is an American lawyer and the Walter W. Foskett Professor of Constitutional law, on the faculty at Maurer School of Law at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. She previously served in the Biden administration as Acting Attorney General at the Office of Legal Counsel, having been appointed on January 20, 2021, by President Joe Biden, to return to the role she previously held in the Clinton administration. She was succeeded in that role in a permanent capacity by Christopher H. Schroeder, and is currently serving as the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the same office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew G. Olsen</span> American prosecutor (born 1962)

Matthew Glen Olsen is an American attorney who has served as the Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division since 2021. He is the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria F. Nourse</span> American academic (born 1958)

Victoria Frances Nourse is the Ralph V. Whitworth Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center and the executive director of its Center on Congressional Studies. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights as an appointee of President Joe Biden. She previously served as General Counsel to the Vice President under the Obama Administration. A nominee for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, her nomination was returned to the president on December 17, 2011, after the Senate adjourned for more than 30 days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Koh</span> American judge (born 1968)

Lucy Haeran Koh is an American lawyer serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Koh previously served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 2010 to 2021. She also served as a California state court judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court from 2008 to 2010. She is the first Korean American woman to serve on a federal appellate court in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Zipps</span> American judge (born 1964)

Jennifer Guerin Zipps is an American lawyer and judge serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Zipps formerly served as a United States magistrate judge of the same court from 2005 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patty Shwartz</span> American judge (born 1961)

Patty Shwartz is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul J. Watford</span> American judge (born 1967)

Paul Jeffrey Watford is an American lawyer who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2012 to 2023. In 2016, The New York Times identified Watford as a potential Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. Watford resigned his judgeship in 2023 and became a partner at the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L. Felipe Restrepo</span> American judge (born 1959)

Luis Felipe Restrepo, known commonly as L. Felipe Restrepo, is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the United States Sentencing Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd M. Hughes</span> American judge (born 1966)

Todd Michael Hughes is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara L. Ellis</span> American judge (born 1969)

Sara Lee Ellis is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John J. Tuchi</span> American judge (born 1964)

John Joseph Tuchi is an American lawyer who is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul G. Byron</span> American judge (born 1959)

Paul Gregory Byron is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lydia Griggsby</span> American judge (born 1968)

Lydia Kay Griggsby is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. She is a former Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims and Chief Counsel for Private and Information Policy for the Senate Judiciary Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Allen Bolden</span> American judge (born 1965)

Victor Allen Bolden is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut and former corporation counsel for the City of New Haven, Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie A. Finley</span> American attorney (born 1966)

Stephanie Ann Finley is the former United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana and is a former nominee to be a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Wesley Hendrix</span> American judge (born 1977)

James Wesley Hendrix is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas and former assistant United States attorney for the same district. He presides over the Northern District's Lubbock, Abilene, and San Angelo Divisions, which account for 47 of the Northern District's 100 counties, and span an area larger than Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David S. Morales</span> American judge (born 1968)

David Steven Morales is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

References

  1. "USCCR: About Us > Commissioners > Debo P. Adegbile". www.usccr.gov. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  2. Weisman, Jonathan (March 5, 2014). "Senate Rejects Obama Nominee Linked to Abu-Jamal Case". New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  3. "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov . December 15, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016 via National Archives.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Justice's Civil Rights nominee has resume that includes 'Sesame Street' and voting rights". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 "Alumnus of the Month for July 2010". NYU School of Law. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov . November 14, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2014 via National Archives.
  7. "The Next D.C. Circuit Nominee". National Review Online. October 26, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  8. "Obama asks ABA to vet Adegbile for Supreme Court". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  9. "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate". whitehouse.gov . November 18, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2014 via National Archives.
  10. "Assistant Attorney General Civil Rights – DeboAdegbile". judiciary.senate.gov. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  11. "Senate Judiciary Committee". U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  12. "Senate Floor Proceedings" (PDF). U.S. Senate. February 27, 2014. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  13. "Controversial DOJ nominee fails to clear Senate test vote". Fox News. March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  14. Wesley Lowery; Ed O'Keefe (March 5, 2014). "Senate rejects Obama appointment of Debo Adegbile to top civil rights post". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  15. Trujillo, Mario (September 15, 2014). "Controversial Justice nominee withdraws". TheHill. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  16. "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov . December 15, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2017 via National Archives.
  17. Olson, Laura (December 17, 2016). "Politics as Usual: Toomey blasts Debo Adegbile appointment". mcall.com. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  18. "Adebowale". Behind the Name. Retrieved October 5, 2014.