Dear Senators,

The following Jewish organizations representing more than a million people across the country write in strong support of Adeel A. Mangi to the United States Court of Appeals to the Third Circuit. Born in Pakistan, Mr. Mangi received law degrees from both the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and Harvard. Mr. Mangi received his LL.M. from Harvard Law School. He qualified as a Barrister and received his Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Legal Skills from the City University London Inns of Court School of Law and his First Class Degree in Law from the University of Oxford, Pembroke College. Mr. Mangi has been a lifelong advocate for the Muslim community, serving on the Board of Directors for Muslims for Progressive Values and for six terms on the Board of the Muslim Bar Association of New York in addition to serving as an ally Board Member for the National LGBT Bar Association. If confirmed, Mr. Mangi would be the first Muslim American to serve as a federal appellate court judge. 

Mr. Mangi is a partner at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP where he has secured landmark legal victories and devoted thousands of hours to pro bono service throughout his career. The Talmud asserts that appointing a judge who is biased or ill-prepared for the role is considered so terrible that it is akin to one of the greatest sins in the Jewish tradition. In Adeel A. Mangi, the Senate has the opportunity to confirm one of the most preeminent lawyers with an impeccable career and credentials that more than prepare him for a lifetime position on our federal courts. 

Among his many legal accomplishments, Mr. Mangi represented two different Muslim communities denied permission to build new mosques in two New Jersey towns. He secured a settlement under which both mosques were approved and the respective municipalities paid significant compensation to the Muslim communities affected. He donated legal fees awarded to him to several charities, including a scholarship fund for Muslim law students. In another case, he represented the family of Karl Taylor, an incarcerated man who was killed by corrections officers. After a lengthy trial, Mr. Mangi ultimately settled the case out of court, and Mr. Taylor’s family received the largest settlement in New York state’s history for the death of an incarcerated person. In addition to his extensive litigation load, Mr. Mangi has filed numerous amicus briefs in the federal appellate courts and the US Supreme Court on behalf of religious communities on various civil rights issues including unlawful surveillance of religious communities, protecting LGBTQ workers from sex discrimination, the repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, government funding for border wall construction, and the Muslim ban on travel from certain countries. 

He spoke movingly about his faith and pro bono work on behalf of religious organizations at his hearing, sharing that he is a person of faith and reminding senators that he chose to become American, to make his life here and raise his family here because he was struck by “the tapestry and the mosaic of America and all these people with all these different religious backgrounds, can come together and live in harmony towards common goals. And so I thought it’s important that people of faith have a voice on many of the critical issues that are before the Supreme Court and the appellate courts. And I thought there’s something beautiful about so many faiths being able to come together sometimes, in some cases, more than 150 different religious groups coming together to present a common position to the Supreme Court of the United States.”

Having ethical and unbiased judges is ingrained in our Jewish teachings in which we are taught that “judges need to be people of strength through good deeds.” It is clear to us that Adeel A. Mangi is a person of strength and good deeds, as evidenced by his career, devotion to his community, and commitment to religious freedom and civil rights. 

Signed,

ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal

Ameinu

Avodah

Bend the Arc: Jewish Action

Carolina Jews for Justice  

Jewish Community Action

Jewish Democratic Council of America

Jewish Women International

National Council of Jewish Women   

New York Jewish Agenda

Society for Humanistic Judaism

T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights

The Shalom Center

The Workers Circle

Zioness