By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
The Senate has confirmed a federal judge from Kentucky to serve on the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Amul Thapar, who was based in Lexington while serving as U. S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, was approved on a 52-44 vote on Thursday.
“I think I can speak for so many of us who have either worked for, or appeared before Judge Amul R. Thapar, that today is a special day,” said Lexington attorney Mark Wohlander, a former federal prosecutor who worked with Thapar when he was U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
He typically presides over cases in Covington, London and Pikeville.
President Donald Trump nominated Thapar to the Appeals Court in March to replace Judge Boyce F. Martin, who retired in 2013.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Cincinnati, has jurisdiction over Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan and Tennessee.
Thapar is a Detroit native, who received a bachelor of science degree from Boston College in 1991 and a law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law in 1994.
Liberal groups opposed Thapar’s confirmation, while Kentuckians who know him best expressed nothing short of glee.
Thapar has a reputation as a qualified judge with an impressive legal mind,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Louisville. “He will fairly apply the law to all who enter his courtroom.”
First Northern Kentuckian to serve on the United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.