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Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, the Senate will vote to confirm Sarah F. Russell to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Born in Boston, MA, Russell earned her B.A., magna cum laude, at Yale College in 1998 and her J.D. at Yale Law School in 2002. After graduating from law school, Russell served as a law clerk to the Honorable Michael B. Mukasey on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 2002 to 2003 and the Honorable Chester J. Straub on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals from 2003 to 2005. Russell then served as an assistant Federal public defender between 2005 and 2007 in the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Connecticut. In this role, she tried five jury trials to verdict. She then served as director of the Arthur Liman Public Interest Program, lecturer in law, and associate research scholar in law at Yale Law School from 2007 to 2010.

Since 2011, Russell has taught law at the Quinnipiac University School of Law in various roles, including most recently as a professor of law and the director of the legal clinic. Russell's scholarship has primarily centered on topics related to juvenile justice.

The American Bar Association rated Russell as ``well qualified,'' and her nomination is strongly supported by her home State Senators, Mr. Blumenthal and Mr. Murphy.

Russell is an academic and former Federal public defender whose litigation experience and deep commitment to equal justice will be an asset to the District of Connecticut.

I am proud to support her nomination.

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