After her previous nomination be U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois stalled, April Perry has been nominated to be a U.S. District Judge on the court instead.
Background
April Perry graduated from Northwestern University in 2000 and got a J.D. magna cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law in 2003.
After graduation, Perry clerked for Judge Joel Flaum on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Perry then became a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois in 2004. In 2017, Perry left to become Chief Deputy State’s Attorney and Chief Ethics Officer for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. In 2019, Perry left to join Ubiety Technologies as General Counsel. Since 2022, Perry serves as Senior Counsel at GE HealthCare.
History of the Seat
Perry has been nominated for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. This seat will open upon the elevation of Judge Nancy Maldonado to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Legal Career
Perry started her legal career as a law clerk for Judge Joel Flaum on the Seventh Circuit. Subsequently, Perry spent twelve years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. During this time, Perry prosecuted Gregory Patzer for bank robbery. See United States v. Patzer, 548 F. Supp. 2d 612 (N.D. Ill. 2008).
From 2017 to 2019, Perry served as the Chief Ethics Officer for Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. Perry’s time with the office overlapped with the prosecution of Jussie Smolett for making false reports of being targeted for a hate crime. See Andy Grimm, 2 Top Deputies of State’s Attorney Foxx, One Tied to Smollett Case, To Resign, Chicago Sun Times, Apr. 18, 2019, https://chicago.suntimes.com/2019/4/18/18619800/2-top-deputies-of-state-s-attorney-foxx-one-tied-to-smollett-case-to-resign. Notably, Perry was critical of Foxx’s decision to assign the case to her First Assistant after her recusal, noting that a special prosecutor should likely have been appointed upon the recusal. See Ben Bradley, Top Foxx Official Said Recusal Wasn’t Right, WGN9, Apr. 17, 2019, https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-investigates/top-foxx-official-said-recusal-wasnt-right/. Perry subsequently resigned from the office. See Ben Bradley, Mysterious ‘Special Prosecutor Order’ Email in Smollett Case, Records Show, WGN9, Apr. 19, 2019, https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-investigates/mysterious-special-prosecutor-order-email-in-smollett-case-records-show/.
Perry has spent the last few years of her career in-house, starting with the Artificial Intelligence tech start up Ubiety Technologies, and more recently in GE HealthCare.
In 2023, Perry was nominated to be U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Perry’s nomination was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a bipartisan 12-9 vote but was blocked by Senator J.D. Vance from a final confirmation vote, remaining pending until it was withdrawn for her nomination to the federal bench.
Overall Assessment
While Perry’s nomination to be U.S. Attorney was stalled by Vance, it is likely that Democrats will prioritize Perry’s judicial nomination more during their limited floor time. As such, ironically, Vance’s blocking of Perry’s nomination may result in a lifetime appointment for her.