Merle began her legal career as a
law clerk for Judge
Robert L. Carter of the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York from 2008 to 2009. From 2009 to 2011, she was a staff attorney at the Gulf Region Advocacy Center. Merle then became an
assistant federal public defender at the
Office of the Federal Public Defender. She also served as a
law clerk for Judge
John Gleeson of the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York from 2012 to 2013. From 2013 to 2015, Merle was a litigation associate and civil rights
fellow at
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in
New York City. From 2016 to 2021, she served as assistant counsel and then senior counsel for the
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund ("LDF"). From 2021 to 2023, she was the deputy director of litigation at LDF.
Notable cases In 2017, Merle was a member of the petitioner team in
Buck v. Davis. In 2017, Merle was lead counsel for
NAACP LDF v. Trump.
Federal judicial service On January 19, 2022, President
Joe Biden nominated Merle to serve as a
United States district judge of the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. President Biden nominated Merle to a new seat created following the appointment of
Roslynn R. Mauskopf as director of the
Administrative Office of the United States Courts. On April 27, 2022, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. During Merle's confirmation hearing, Republican senators criticized her over comments she made in 2017 in which she said that proposals for
voter ID laws and a
border wall were based in
white supremacy. On May 26, 2022, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the President under
Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the
United States Senate; she was renominated later the same day. On February 2, 2023, the committee failed to report her nomination by a 10–10 vote. On February 9, 2023, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote. On June 21, 2023, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 51–50 vote, with Vice President
Kamala Harris voting in the affirmative. Later that day, her nomination was confirmed by a 50–49 vote. Senator
Joe Manchin joined all the Senate Republicans in opposing her nomination. She received her judicial commission on August 11, 2023. == See also ==