Blackwell federal judge nomination to go before full US Senate as soon as Monday

Rebecca Omastiak KSTP

In this image taken from video, prosecutor Jerry Blackwell speaks as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over pre-trial motions, prior to continuing jury selection, Monday, March 15, 2021, in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn. Chauvin is charged in the May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd. (Court TV/Pool via AP)

The federal judge nomination of Jerry Blackwell—an attorney who represented the state during the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin—could be taken up by the full U.S. Senate as early as Monday.

The agenda item is on the Senate’s executive calendar as of Monday, up for full Senate consideration.

The Senate Committee on the Judiciary met last week and confirmed Blackwell’s nomination with a 13-8 vote.

A respected trial attorney with nearly 35 years of experience, Blackwell has tried cases across the country. He founded the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers and in 2020, Blackwell won the state’s first-ever full posthumous pardon for Max Mason, the African American man who was wrongly convicted of rape in connection to the Duluth lynchings of 1920.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office brought Blackwell on for Chauvin’s trial, during which Blackwell worked pro bono.

Blackwell was among seven nominees named by President Joe Biden in June.

Clarification: An earlier version of this report indicated the nomination vote would go before the full Senate Monday. The article has been updated to clarify the vote could be taken up as early as Monday.