US lawmakers demand Srinivasan as top court judge

Twenty one US lawmakers have sent a letter to the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in support of Indian-American legal luminary Srikanth Srinivasan's nomination to the DC Circuit Court.

The lawmakers, led by Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera, sent the letter yesterday demanding confirmation of Srinivasan as a judge of the country's second highest court.

Also read: Senate panel passes US immigration bill; Obama hails move

Forty-six year-old Srinivasan, if confirmed, would become the first South Asian to serve as a federal circuit court judge. His nomination was unanimously been confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

He now awaits Senate confirmation, which is expected to vote today.

"Sri Srinivasan would be an outstanding judge for the Court of Appeals. He has worked in the US Solicitor General's office three times - for both Republican and Democratic administrations - and argued 24 cases before the Supreme Court," the 21 Congressman said in the letter to Reid.

"As members of Congress, we value the importance of having diversity on the court. Representation of Indian Americans within our judicial system is overdue," the lawmakers wrote in their letter, which was penned by Bera, the only serving Indian-American lawmaker in the current Congress.

Srinivasan is currently principal US Deputy Solicitor General and is a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

He successfully worked for both Republican and Democratic Administrations and has bipartisan support from the legal community. He was first nominated by Obama on June 11, 2012. On January 2, 2013, his nomination was returned to the President, due to the sine die adjournment of the Senate.

On January 3, 2013, Obama re-nominated him for the same office. Srinivasan was born in Chandigarh, and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas.