Washington: Indian-American legal luminary Srikanth ‘Sri’ Srinivasan appears set to become the first South Asian judge in the prestigious US Court of Appeals for the American capital.
Called a “trailblazer” by President Barack Obama, Srinivasan, the principal deputy solicitor general of the US, on Wednesday headed toward confirmation to what is “often called the nation’s second-highest court” with little opposition from Republican senators.
If confirmed, Chandigarh-born Srinivasan, 45, who succeeded another Indian American, Neal Kumar Katyal, in August 2011 in his current job, will be just the third South Asian named to any federal judgeship.
As he faced the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Republican Orrin Hatch indicated that he would vote for him even as he pressed Obama’s nominee on whether he would be able to step away from his current role as an advocate and be impartial as a judge.
He repeatedly said he was “impressed” with Srinivasan and, apparently convinced by the nominee’s answers, eventually indicated that he intends to support him saying “I think you’re going to make a great Circuit Court of Appeals judge,” according to Huffington Post.
Srinivasan outlined a traditionally moderate approach to the law, stressing “open-mindedness and objectivity”, according to USA Today.
“It’s a case-by-case approach,” he said when asked for his judicial philosophy. “There’s no grand unifying theory.”
There are four vacancies in the 11-member court, which is often considered a stepping stone to the US Supreme Court.
Srinivasan was born in Chandigarh and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas. He received his BA with honours and distinction in 1989 from Stanford University and his JD with distinction in 1995 from Stanford Law School, where he was elected to Order of the Coif and served as an editor of the Stanford Law Review.
He also holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, which he received along with his JD in 1995.
Srinivasan received the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Furthering US National Security in 2003 and the Office of the Secretary of Defence Award for Excellence in 2005.
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