US Senate confirms Singhal
He is South Florida’s newest federal judge
Raag Singhal, a widely respected Broward County circuit court judge, was confirmed Thursday by the U.S. Senate as South Florida’s newest federal judge.
“I’m just truly grateful to Senator [Rick] Scott and Senator [Marco] Rubio and President [Donald] Trump for the privilege of becoming a federal judge,” Singhal said in a text message. “It is something I never dreamed of, yet it’s a dream come true.”
The vote was 76-17, with seven senators not voting. The “no” votes all came from Democrats, many of whom have consistently voted against President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees and the Republican majority’s pushing them through.
Singhal is a member of the Federalist Society, which advocates conservative legal theories and
Judge Elizabeth Scherer presides over a hearing Thursday to set a date to determine when the trial the case of the Parkland school shooter can begin at the Broward Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale.
limited government, and before becoming a judge was active in the Broward Republican Party.
But his nomination by Donald Trump was praised by Democrats as well as Republicans — and by criminal and civil lawyers who have appeared before him as a judge, and opposite him when he was a lawyer in private practice.
Singhal, 56, has been an assistant state attorney and a criminal defense lawyer. In 2011, then-Gov. Rick Scott appointed him as a circuit court judge. In 2014, he won a full six-year term when no candidate came forward to run against him for the seat.
Singhal, whose parents emigrated to the U.S. from India, is Asian American. His given name is Anuraag but is widely known as Raag.
He and his physician-wife have three children. U.S. District Court judges serve lifetime appointments. They act as trial judges in federal criminal and civil cases and make findings of fact. Singhal, who was at work in the Broward Courthouse on Thursday while the Senate was acting on judicial nominations, said he expects to assume his new role early in January.