SC Judge DeAndrea Benjamin confirmed by US Senate for high-profile 4th Circuit Court seat

South Carolina Judge DeAndrea Gist Benjamin is now set to be a federal appeals judge.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday, in a 53-44 vote, confirmed Benjamin to a seat on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Benjamin is President Joe Biden’s first judicial nomination approved by the Senate this year. She received five Republican votes, including South Carolina’s U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott.

Benjamin has worked for 11 years as a 5th Judicial Circuit state judge overseeing civil and criminal trials in Richland and Kershaw counties.

“It would be an honor and a privilege to continue my service on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals,” Benjamin told the Senate Judiciary Committee during her confirmation hearing.

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina’s only Democrat in Congress, recommended Benjamin for the position before Biden made the nomination.

“Judge Benjamin is an experienced jurist with the wealth of knowledge and varied life experiences necessary to serve with distinction,” Clyburn said in a statement after Benjamin’s confirmation.

Benjamin is the wife of former Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin. She worked as a clerk for state Judge Casey Manning, worked for the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, was an assistant state attorney general under former Attorney General Charlie Condon and served as a municipal judge.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals is one of the nation’s 13 appellate courts and is one step below the U.S. Supreme Court. The 4th Circuit hears appeals from federal district courts in Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

Benjamin will be the first Black person from South Carolina to serve on the 4th Circuit.