While Joe Biden may be America’s latest president-elect, President Donald Trump is still in office and has just appointed a new federal judge. The Senate confirmed Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a 33-year-old attorney from Florida, to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Despite being the youngest federally appointed judge by Trump, The American Bar Association declared her “not qualified” to serve as a federal judge. In September, the ABA sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee explaining that despite Mizelle’s “keen intellect, a strong work ethic and an impressive resume,” she lacks trial experience.
The Lakeland native graduated from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2012 and worked as a trial attorney in the tax division of the Department of Justice. Mizelle has clerked in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. However, Mizelle has never tried a criminal or civil case, as lead or co-counsel, according to Randall Noel, a chairman for the ABA’s standing committee on the federal judiciary.
Mizelle is known for her conservative credentials and is currently employed under Jones Day, a law firm that represents the Pennsylvania GOP in litigation against the U.S. Supreme Court for allowing ballots in Pennsylvania to extend the deadline to return mail-in ballots. Her age means that she will be able to serve as a federal judge for decades to come.