Jamel Semper – Nominee to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

A lifelong prosecutor who was considered to be U.S. Attorney in 2021, Jamel Semper has now been nominated to a seat on the New Jersey federal bench.

Background

Born in Brooklyn in 1981, Jamel Ken Semper received a Bachelor of Arts from Hampton University in 2003 and a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law in 2007. He then clerked for Judge Harold Fullilove on the Essex County Superior Court and became a state prosecutor with the Union County Prosecutor’s Office. In 2013, Semper shifted to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, and in 2018, to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where he currently serves as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.

History of the Seat

At the recommendation of Senator Cory Booker, Semper has been nominated to replace Judge John Michael Vazquez, who resigned from the bench on September 8, 2023.

Legal Experience

Semper started his career as a state prosecutor, first working in the Union County Prosecutor’s Office and then shifting to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. Notably, with the latter office, Semper prosecuted Ali Mohammad Brown, who ended up pleading guilty of murder and terrorism for the murder of Brendan Tevlin as part of “Jihad”. See Alex Johnson, Man Pleads Guilty to N.J. Murder, Admits to Three Others in ‘Jihad’, NBC News, Mar. 6, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-pleads-guilty-n-j-murder-admits-three-others-jihad-n854346. Semper also prosecuted Lamar Hunt, who was found guilty by a jury of murder for killing a man his girlfriend had been texting with. See Thomas Moriarty, Man Gets Life for Luring Shooting Victim to His Death, NJ.com, July 25, 2017, https://www.nj.com/essex/2017/07/lamar_hunt_sentenced_to_life_for_white_castle_killing.html.

Since 2018, Semper worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. At the office, Semper was named Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division in 2022. Among the matters he handled there, Semper prosecuted Richard Adebayo, who was convicted after a two-week jury trial, of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 14 counts of wire fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. See Essex County Man Convicted of Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, Press Release, Office of the U.S. Attorney, June 28, 2019 (available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/essex-county-man-convicted-wire-fraud-and-aggravated-identity-theft).

Overall Assessment

Semper is one of a number of Biden appointees that is transforming New Jersey’s federal bench. While a relatively young nominee, Semper’s background as a prosecutor is likely to avoid too much opposition and will likely lead to a smooth confirmation.

138 Comments

  2. tsb1991's avatar

    Schumer wrapping up. Cloture filed on Kato, Kobick, Reyes, and an HHS nominee!

    Please put every Democratic Senator in bubble wrap and in isolation prior to the week, otherwise the Senate calendar next week could get blown up lol.

    Either that or expecting a Republican absence or two next week?

    Liked by 1 person

    • dequanhargrove's avatar

      Yes yes yes… So happy Kato is finally getting scheduled. She was approaching two years. And thanks to whoever gave Schumer the Republican debate schedule. I live in Miami so if I see Tim Scott going anywhere NEAR the Miami airport next week before Kato is confirmed I’ll be sure to trip him & make him miss his flight… Lol

      Liked by 1 person

      • dawsont825's avatar

        I need to stop reading your comments in public lmaooo. I had a brief thought of reading news headlines of a random constituent in Miami getting caught on video tripping Sen. Tim Scott and I laughed a little too hard. Well done sir.

        Finally good to see Kato close to the finish line, and it’s good to see proof that the WHC and Biden are having behind-the-scenes discussions with GOP senators regarding the vacant district court seats in their states. Sometimes with a lack of visible progress (in terms of new nominations) it seems as if nothing is getting done, but on the contrary, with the new batch of nominees, it’s now apparent that there are serious negotiations going on behind closed doors. It gives me a bit of optimism about filling some of the more out-of-reach seats (e.g., Arkansas, Missouri, Utah, etc.,) and that even if Trump’s 4-year record of judges won’t be matched or surpassed without senate fuckery in the previous administration, Biden coming really close and achieving over 210+ confirmations is nothing to be ashamed of. Just need to get those cloture motions filed and have the confirmation votes teed up ASAP. Keep em coming. The next batch of nominees better include a nominee for the 4th circuit, getting kinda tired of waiting.

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      • dequanhargrove's avatar

        Haaaaaaaaaa

        If you see that on the news next week, please fly down to Miami & bail me out… Lol

        And yes I definitely agree this new WHC office is doing a much better job than that last. Two straight batches of nothing but red state nominees are a great accomplishment. As for the 4th, Cardin ought to be ashamed of himself playing Russian roulette with a circuit court seat. If he wasn’t retiring, I would fly to Maryland & volunteer for whoever was running against him. Shameful on his part for holding this seat hostage for so long.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. dequanhargrove's avatar

    Kato is nominated for the longest judicial vacancy in the country, vacant since 10/08/2017. Once Kato is confirmed, the longest vacancy in the country will be in the International Trade Court & Lisa Wang has already been nominated for that seat.

    Here are the top ten vacancies that currently do not have a nominee. I’m not including two of the SDFL vacancies since they officially will have nominees once the White House sends the names from yesterday’s batch to the senate;

    WI-E – 12/31/2019
    AL-M – 02/11/2020
    IN-N – 01/23/2021
    TX-W – 02/26/2021
    SD – 10/01/2021
    AR-W – 11/10/2021
    PA-E – 12/31/2021
    AK – 12/31/2021
    KS – 01/14/2022
    LA-W – 01/21/2022

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      • dequanhargrove's avatar

        @Mike

        I agree. But if we get Nilam Sanghvi, Susan Lin, Jasmine Harris, Sandra Mayson or any number of A+ nominees for the EDPA then it would be worth the wait.

        As for the other 9 seats, I do see some hope on some. We already have the two names mentioned for thee EDWI seat. Biden just needs to pick one in relative short order to give enough time for senator Johnson to pull any of his usual shenanigans.

        I believe we will get a nominee for Indiana, probably before the end of January. Texas should be getting some nominees over the next 4 – 5 months as well. Hopefully the Kansas senators will work in good faith to fill that seat since Biden worked with them to fill the 10th vacancy even though he didn’t have to.

        Senator Kennedy said he was surprised Biden didn’t nominate whoever they agreed on for the WDLA seat the same day he announced Long & Edwardds Jr. Perhaps Biden realized that court has no woman on it & wanted to make sure the remaining vacancy was a woman. I’m really surprise Obama failed nominee Stephanie Finley hasn’t been nominated, especially since she is a veteran.

        I would like to think we will get nominees for Alaska & South Dakota but I’m not so sure now that we are a year out from the election. As I’ve said before I think Alabama & Arkansas are out as possibilities as long as we have blue slips in play.

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  5. Mike's avatar

    Hmm, the Monday 5pm vote is for the NIH nominee, so the judicial votes will be on Tuesday but the debate is on Wednesday, I wonder if they hope/expect Scott to be in debate prep on Tuesday.

    …do I get my hopes up and assume they plan to file cloture for another 2-3 more district nominees for Wed while Scotts out?

    Like

    • tsb1991's avatar

      Definitely a possibility, also circuit court nominees tend to have their cloture filed on a Monday or Tuesday, and their cloture vote is typically done on the final vote on Thursday. The only recent exception to this I remember was Abudu, she was the last vote on a Wednesday and was confirmed Thursday, so as much as Republicans really didn’t like Abudu, they did consent to a time agreement for that to happen, since postcloture on appeals court nominees are 30 hours.

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    • dawsont825's avatar

      With the recent batch of red state nominees, I have no reason to badmouth the Biden administration regarding their recent judicial nominations. I do wonder however if they have the stones to make tough nominations over the objections of senators in a blatant way. I know people have heard the complaining about the 9th circuit, but it’s still valid.

      There are 3 remaining circuit court seats which need to be filled which do not require blue slips, which also are nominee-less. (3rd, 4th, and 6th circuit) Does Biden have the stones to pick a nominee without getting approval of Blackburn and Hagerty? I doubt it, but we’ll see. Very few things would make me happier than to watch multiple SJC hearings and listening to Cruz, Hawley, AND Blackburn bitch and complain. As my former coworker used to say in a raunchy way: “who needs Viagra when you have that” lol.

      Still patiently waiting for my early Christmas present in the form of another vacancy on the 5th circuit. The day that there is a vacancy on the 5th circuit specifically in Mississippi is the day I lose my usual stoic composure. Colom is due and there be no stopping him besides cowardice.

      They gave away the farm on the 5th circuit and got a middle-aged moderate magistrate judge for the WDTX. The jury (pun intended) is still out on the rest of the nominees that Biden can get in Texas. They got great nominees for both the 7th and 10th circuits. Then they just have to confirm de Alba and Aframe (as soon as he oasses through the committee). As great as district court judgeships are, the circuit courts are the real prize. After not making judicial appointments a priority, we see the effects of leaving vacant seats. Fill em all

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    • jakefsf4205's avatar

      Schumer seems to have a pattern. He usually files cloture on all the nominees he expects the senate to vote on for the following week on Thursday before they adjourn. Usually there’s not any other nominee cloture motions that week except for the batch of nominees for the following week (though this week did see cloture filed on the remaining joint chiefs of staff vacancies)

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    • keystone's avatar

      Schumer always sets up an easy nominee to be the first vote of the week. This lets him get a quick confirmation while also letting him get a sense for that week’s Dem attendance will be.

      If all of the Dems are present for the NIH Director vote on Monday, I suspect that Schumer will file cloture on DeAlba that night, setting her up for a Wednesday vote.

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  8. Mike's avatar

    Saw this last week on ACS’s judicial tracker update.

    “The current administration is behind its predecessor in terms of the number of Article III confirmations, and risks falling behind further. The Biden-Harris Administration is at 147 Article III confirmations as of the morning of October 26. The Trump Administration was at 157 Article III confirmations through October 2019, and 187 Article III confirmations through the third year of the administration.”

    I think what frustrates me is how quickly they could catch up to Trumps confirmations if they really tried. As of today, Biden has 148 confirmations and 40 nominees in the pipeline including 25 waiting to be confirmed.

    It’ll be a real gut punch if the reason Biden doesn’t get close to Trumps confirmations has less to do with vacancies and more so because they just didn’t confirm nominees.

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  9. tsb1991's avatar

    Maddox (DMD) received his commission today. DeClercq, Hall, and Munley, who were all confirmed beforehand, are still awaiting their commissions, although Hall won’t start until after the New Year.

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