April Perry

Northern District of Illinois
	Seventh Circuit
Judgeships
	Posts: 23
	Judges: 23
	Vacancies: 0
Judges
	Chief: Virginia Kendall
	Active judges: Georgia Alexakis, Jorge L. Alonso, John Robert Blakey, Edmond E. Chang, Sharon Coleman, Jeffrey Cummings, Jeremy Daniel, Robert Dow, Sara Lee Ellis, Sunil Harjani, LaShonda A. Hunt, Lindsay Jenkins, Iain David Johnston, Virginia Kendall, John Kness, Martha Pacold, April Perry, Mary Rowland, Steven Seeger, Manish Shah, John Tharp Jr., Franklin Ulyses Valderrama, Andrea R. Wood; Senior judges:; Marvin Aspen, Elaine Bucklo, Suzanne Conlon, Thomas M. Durkin, Robert Gettleman, Joan Gottschall, Ronald Guzman, Frederick Kapala, Matthew Kennelly, Charles Kocoras, Joan Lefkow, George Marovich, Charles Norgle, Rebecca Pallmeyer, Philip Reinhard, James Zagel

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: April Perry
	Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Progress
	Confirmed 124 days after nomination.
	Nominated: July 11, 2024
	ABA Rating: Well Qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: July 31, 2024
	Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported:
	Confirmed: November 12, 2024
	Vote: 51-44

April Perry is a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on July 11, 2024, and confirmed by the United States Senate on November 12, 2024, by a vote of 51-44.^[1]^[2]^[3] Perry was one of 235 Article III judges nominated by President Joe Biden (D) and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Prior to joining the court, Perry was Senior Counsel of Global Investigations and Fraud and Abuse Prevention at GE HealthCare.^[1]

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (2024-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On July 11, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate Perry to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He officially nominated Perry on July 11, 2024.^[2] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Perry by a vote of 51-44 on November 12, 2024.^[2] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Perry confirmation vote (November 12, 2024)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	46	0	1
Republican	2	44	3
Independent	3	0	1
Total	51^[4]	44	5

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Perry's nomination on July 31, 2024. Perry was reported to the full Senate on September 19, 2024, after a 13-8 committee vote.^[5] Click here for a list of other nominees awaiting a committee vote.

Nomination

On April 24, 2024, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate April Perry to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. On July 11, 2024, Perry was officially nominated to the Northern District of Illinois.^[2]

Perry was nominated to replace Judge Nancy Maldonado, who was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on July 11, 2024.^[2]

The American Bar Association (ABA) rated April Perry Well Qualified.^[6] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Biography

Early and education

Perry was born in 1979 in San Diego, California. She earned a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 2000 and a law degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 2003.

Professional career

2024-present: Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
2022-2024: Senior counsel, Global Investigations and Fraud and Abuse Prevention, GE HealthCare
2021-2024: Hearing officer, Chicago Police Board
2019-2022: Ubiety Technologies, Inc.
- 2022: outside general counsel
- 2019-2022: general counsel and corporate secretary
2017-2019: Chief deputy state's attorney and chief ethics officer
2004-2016: Assistant U.S. attorney, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- 2014-2016: Civil Rights and Hate Crimes coordinator
- 2011-2016: supervisory litigation counsel
- 2010-2016: Project Safe Childhood & Violence Against Women Act coordinator
- 2010-2011: deputy chief, Narcotics and Gangs
2008, 2009, 2011: Adjunct professor, moot court, John Marshall Law School
2004: Private practice
2003-2004: Law clerk, Joel Flaum, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit^[3]

About the court

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is one of 94 United States district courts. The district operates out of Chicago and Rockford, Illinois. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit located in the same courthouse as the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago. The Northern District of Illinois has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

There are two court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Eastern Division, covering Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake County, LaSalle, and Will counties

The Western Division, covering Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago counties

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

Noteworthy cases

Supreme Court declined to stay order barring deployment of National Guard in Illinois

See also: Supreme Court emergency orders related to the Trump administration, 2025-2026

In October 2025, the Donald Trump (R) administration federalized the Texas and Illinois National Guard and sent them to Chicago, Illinois, to assist federal law enforcement with immigration enforcement actions being conducted in the city.^[7] The state of Illinois filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against the federal government days later, challenging the legality of the tactics that federal law enforcement were using in immigration enforcement and in response to protests, and challenging the legality of the federalization and deployment of the National Guard.^[8]

On October 9, 2025, Judge April Perry issued a temporary order barring the Trump administration from federalizing and deploying the National Guard in Illinois.^[9] The federal government appealed Perry's order to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on October 10. The Seventh Circuit granted in part and denied in part the appeal, saying that Trump could federalize the National Guard but could not deploy such forces in Illinois.^[8]

The federal government filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court on October 17, 2025, asking the court to fully stay the district court's order.^[10] On December 23, 2025, the Supreme Court denied the federal government's request for a stay in a 6-3 decision. Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch dissented.^[11]