Doris Pryor, an IU Maurer School of Law graduate, will be the first Black judge from Indiana to serve on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
The U.S. Senate voted 60-31 to confirm Pryor on Dec. 6. In May 2022, President Biden nominated Pryor to the appellate court, which has jurisdiction over federal court cases appealed out of Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. The Senate Judiciary Committee recommended her appointment.
According to the Indy Star, Pryor received more votes in favor than Biden’s two other appointments to the Seventh Circuit, receiving bipartisan support. Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi was confirmed to the Seventh Circuit in June 2021 with 53 votes in support, 40 against with seven not voting. This September, Judge John Z. Lee — the first Asian-American judge to join the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals — received 50 votes in support, 44 votes against with six not voting.
According to the Southern District of Indiana, Pryor has served as a magistrate judge in the Southern District of Indiana since 2018. She also holds experience as a clerk for a federal court in Arkansas and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as 12 years of experience as a U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Indiana.
Pryor received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas in 1999 and graduated from the IU Maurer School of Law in 2003.
