Jeffrey Cummings

Jeffrey I. Cummings is a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on January 31, 2023, and confirmed by the United States Senate on September 12, 2023, by a vote of 50-45.^[1][2][3]

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Prior to joining the court, Cummings was a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2023-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On January 31, 2023, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Cummings to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He was confirmed by a 50-45 vote of the U.S. Senate on September 12, 2023. Cummings received commission on October 10, 2023.^[1][2][3] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: Jeffrey Cummings
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Progress
Confirmed 224 days after nomination.
Nominated: January 31, 2023
ABA Rating: Well qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
Hearing: February 15, 2023
Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
Reported: April 20, 2023
Confirmed: September 12, 2023
Vote: 50-45

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Cummings by a vote of 50-45 on September 12, 2023.^[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Cummings confirmation vote (September 12, 2023)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	45	0	3
Republican	3	45	1
Independent	2	0	1
Total	50[4]	45	5

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

Cummings was reported to the full Senate on April 20, 2023, after a 12-9 committee vote.^[5] Click here for a list of other nominees awaiting a full Senate vote.

Nomination

On January 18, 2023, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate Cummings to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The president officially nominated Cummings on January 31, 2023.^[1][2]

Cummings was nominated to additional position in accordance with 28 U.S.C. 133(b)(1).^[2]

The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Cummings well qualified.^[6] To read more about ABA ratings, click here. To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Biography

Education

Jeffrey Cummings earned a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University in 1984 and a law degree from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in 1987.^[1]

Professional career

• 2023-present: Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• 2019-2023: United States Magistrate Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• 1989-2019: co-managing partner at Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C.
• 1987-1989: law clerk for Judge Ann Claire Williams on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

About the court

Northern District of Illinois
Seventh Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 23
Judges: 23
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Virginia Kendall
Active judges: Georgia Alexakis, Jorge L. Alonso, John Robert Blakey, Edmond E. Chang, Sharon Coleman, Jeffrey Cummings, Jeremy Daniel, Robert Dow, Sara Lee Ellis, Sunil Harjani, LaShonda A. Hunt, Lindsay Jenkins, Iain David Johnston, Virginia Kendall, John Kness, Martha Pacold, April Perry, Mary Rowland, Steven Seeger, Manish Shah, John Tharp Jr., Franklin Ulyses Valderrama, Andrea R. Wood Senior judges: Marvin Aspen, Elaine Bucklo, Suzanne Conlon, Thomas M. Durkin, Robert Gettleman, Joan Gottschall, Ronald Guzman, Frederick Kapala, Matthew Kennelly, Charles Kocoras, Joan Lefkow, George Marovich, Charles Norgle, Rebecca Pallmeyer, Philip Reinhard, James Zagel

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is one of 94 United States district courts. The district operates out of Chicago and Rockford, Illinois. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit located in the same courthouse as the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.

The Northern District of Illinois has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

There are two court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Eastern Division, covering Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake County, LaSalle, and Will counties

The Western Division, covering Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago counties

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

• The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
• The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

• As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

• After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

• If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
• If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

• The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

• If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
• If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

See also

• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
• Biography from the Federal Judicial Center

Footnotes

Ballotpedia updates federal judicial profiles at least once a year. However, if you find something's just not right, we want to know! Please email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of any incomplete, incorrect, or missing information related to this judge's profile.