WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (both D-Md.) today praised the Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan approval of Judge Brendan Hurson to serve as U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Maryland.
“On behalf of our Maryland constituents, we are pleased that the Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to send the nomination of Judge Brendan Hurson to the full Senate for consideration,” the senators said. “Judge Hurson brings outstanding experience to the federal bench, having served as a federal public defender and now as a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Baltimore. He has spent time volunteering and teaching in underserved communities, and knows firsthand the importance of treating all individuals with dignity and respect. We will encourage our colleagues to quickly approve this nomination and look forward to seeing Judge Hurson continue to uphold the rule of law and provide equal justice for all Marylanders.”
Judge Hurson was nominated to fill the vacancy created when Judge George Hazel resigned in February 2023. President Joe Biden nominated Judge Hurson for this vacancy on March 20, and the Judiciary Committee held his confirmation hearing on April 18. The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary unanimously rated him “well qualified” to serve in the federal judiciary, the highest possible rating. The ABA evaluates the integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament of nominees.
U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE BRENDAN HURSON
U.S. Magistrate Judge Hurson received his undergraduate degree in 2000 from Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island where he majored in Public and Community Service Studies with a minor in Black Studies. After college, he served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in California as an advocate for poor and marginalized communities in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. He later taught middle school at St. Thomas More School in Washington, D.C. In 2005, Judge Hurson graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Maryland School of Law where he was a member of the Journal of Race, Religion, Gender & Class, competed as a member of the National Trial Team, served as president of the Student Bar Association, and was active in the clinical law program.
After law school, Judge Hurson served as a law clerk to the Honorable Margaret B. Seymour of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. He then worked as an associate at a small law firm in Baltimore where he practiced civil and criminal litigation in state and federal courts.
In 2007, Judge Hurson joined the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Baltimore where he defended individuals charged with felony and misdemeanor offenses in Maryland’s federal court. He was named Senior Litigation Counsel in 2015. In 2017, Judge Hurson joined the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the United States Virgin Islands where he represented people charged with violating federal and territorial laws on the islands of St. John, St. Thomas, and St. Croix. Judge Hurson returned to Maryland in late 2018 to resume his service at the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Baltimore.
On February 7, 2022, Judge Hurson was sworn in as a United States Magistrate Judge, and sits in Baltimore.
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