History was made in the United States on Thursday, April 23, 2015 as the first female African American Attorney General was appointed.
The much politicized five-month battle to choose President Barack Obama’s next attorney general came to an end when the United States’ Senate finally voted to confirm Loretta Lynch. The 56-43 vote makes Lynch the first African-American female attorney general in U.S. history.
Her nomination was delayed for a while by other issues . Republicans leading the Senate refused to bring her nomination up for a vote until Democrats cut a deal on abortion language in an unrelated bill. That legislation was finally passed on Wednesday, April 22, 2015, setting up vote and ending the partisan standoff.
Ten Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, joined Democrats. Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz was the only senator not to vote.
Obama chose Lynch to replace Attorney General Eric Holder since November and her nomination cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee in February. Still, she waited longer than all the seven most recent U.S. attorneys general combined for a vote on the Senate floor, after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell insisted on first finishing work on an unrelated bill.
According to CNN, Loretta Lynch’s father, Lorenzo A. Lynch, was in the Senate gallery watching when the historic vote took place confirming her daughter as the first African American female attorney general.
“The good guys won. That’s what has happened in this country all along,” Lorenzo Lynch told reporters. “Even during slavery. Levi Coffin was a founder of the Underground Railroad. Even during slavery. A white man fought against slavery. So all over this land good folks have stood in the right lane, in the right path.”
Loretta Lynch was a two-time U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. She takes on her new high-profile role at a time when America faces many challenges, from dealing with strained relations and deep distrust in some cities between the police and the communities they serve, to criminal justice reform, to confronting the threat of terrorism.
Lynch has some experience with terrorism: the Eastern District of New York, has tried more terrorism cases since 9/11 than any other office. In announcing her nomination in November, Obama praised Lynch for successfully prosecuting the terrorists who plotted to bomb the Federal Reserve Bank and the New York City subway.
Lynch, 55, has earned a reputation as a highly qualified, but low-profile prosecutor who has a good relationship with law enforcement and a history of handling tough cases well.
She is a good listener and a skilled consensus builder, qualities that will help her succeed at Justice, said Tim Heaphy, a former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia who served under Lynch on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee, a group that meets regularly to advise the Justice department on policy matters.
“In that (attorney general) job you are at the center of so many of the emerging, significant, pressing issues not only in this country but around the world. There’s probably no job in government as diverse and challenging as being attorney general of the United States,” Heaphy said. He added that building support for initiatives both within and outside the department is an important part of the job.
“She will be good at getting people to work well together. I think that’s a strength of hers. I saw that on the committee,” Heaphy said.
Lynch’s portfolio will include addressing voting rights, white-collar crime and policy reviews, as well as public corruption, an area in which she has vast experience.
President Obama said America will be better off with Lynch leading the Department of Jusice,
“Loretta’s confirmation ensures that we are better positioned to keep our communities safe, keep our nation secure, and ensure that every American experiences justice under the law,” Obama said in a statement shortly after the vote.
Lynch’s experience in prosecuting civil rights cases, like helping win the convictions of New York City police officers who sexually assaulted Haitian immigrant Abner Louima, will be important as her office tackles closely watched investigations in recent police conduct cases, including the still unexplained death of a 25-year-old Baltimore man while in police custody.
“She’s seen and understands the injustices that have taken place in the past and so therefore she’s uniquely also equipped to deal with what’s going on and do the kinds of investigations that will restore faith to Americans in their justice system,” said Rep. Greg Meeks, D-New York.
Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Lynch grew up 60 miles to the east in Durham, North Carolina. Her father was a fourth-generation Baptist minister; her mother, an English teacher and school librarian. Her father’s church,served as a meeting place for students organizing anti-segregation boycotts in the early 1960s. She told the Judiciary panel this at her January confirmation hearing. Lynch eventually graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
Speaking at her nomination announcement in November, Lynch the ideal of the Justice Department
“This is actually appropriate, because our work is both aspirational, and grounded in gritty reality,” she said. “Today, I stand before you so thrilled, and, frankly, so humbled to have the opportunity to lead this group of wonderful people who work all day and well into the night to make that ideal a manifest reality.”
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