2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15
Sheila Abdus-Salaam, the first Muslim to obtain the position of judge in the United States, was found dead in New York on Wednesday.
According to authorities, the body of the 65-year-old jurist was found floating in the Hudson River after her family had reported her disappearance the same Wednesday morning.
A police source told the Daily News newspaper that Abdus-Salaam was suffering from depression and that his death was likely a suicide, although he declined to say anything else until the autopsy was performed.
The newspaper also highlighted that the body of the judge did not show any signs of trauma or injuries that pointed to any type of assault.
Abdus-Salaam was also the first African American to ascend to the New York Court of Appeals, who was appointed by Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2013.
"Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam was a pioneering jurist who dedicated her life to public service in pursuit of a fairer life for all in New York," Cuomo said in a statement. The governor also presented his condolences through Twitter.
Abdus-Salaam was born to a poor family in Washington, DC, and earned a law degree from Columbia University in 1977. After completing her studies, she worked as a public defender in Brooklyn. Her name appears in Princeton University's legal encyclopedia as America's first Muslim female judge.
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