| Melissa R. DuBose | |
| Office: | Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island |
| Status: | Designate |
| Term Start: | TBD |
| Appointer: | Joe Biden |
| Succeeding: | William E. Smith |
| Predecessor: | William E. Smith |
| Office1: | Associate Judge of the Rhode Island District Court |
| Term Start1: | 2019 |
| Appointer1: | Gina Raimondo |
| Birth Name: | Melissa Raye DuBose |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Education: | Providence College (BA), Roger Williams University School of Law (JD) |
Melissa Raye DuBose (born 1968)[1] [2] is an American lawyer who has served as an associate judge of the Rhode Island District Court since 2019. She is the designate to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
DeBose graduated from Providence College with a degree in political science in 1990 and became a public school social studies teacher in Providence. She graduated from the Roger Williams University School of Law in 2004.[3] [4]
She was a special assistant attorney of the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office from 2005 to 2008. From 2008 to 2019, DuBose was recruited to be the U.S. legal counsel for Schneider Electric, where she worked in corporate compliance, ethics, and fair trade. In 2019, she was appointed by Governor Gina Raimondo to the Rhode Island District Court.[5]
On January 10, 2024, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate DuBose to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island. On February 1, 2024, President Biden nominated DuBose to a seat being vacated by Judge William E. Smith, who will assume senior status on January 1, 2025.[6] On February 8, 2024, a hearing on her nomination before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[7] During her confirmation hearing, she was questioned by Senator John Kennedy over an article from 2000 in which DuBose was quoted about Marxism.[8] On March 7, 2024, her nomination was favorably reported out of committee by a 12–9 vote.[9] On March 12, 2024, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 51–48 vote, with Senator Joe Manchin voting against the motion.[10] Later that day, her nomination was confirmed by a 51–47 vote, with Senator Manchin voting against her confirmation.[11] She is awaiting her judicial commission. Once commissioned, DuBose will be the first person of color and first openly LGBTQ judge to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.[12]