By: Alyssa Wilson

President Joe Biden has nominated Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins to serve as Massachusetts’ U.S. attorney.  

If confirmed by the Senate she would be the first Black woman to serve in this role, WCVB reported. The last permanent U.S. Attorney for the state was Andrew Lelling, a Trump appointee.  

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The president announced the nominees in a White House press release Monday morning. Rollins was nominated along with seven others across the country to serve as U.S. Attorneys.  

“These individuals— many of whom are historic firsts— were chosen for their devotion to enforcing the law, their professionalism, their experience and credentials in this field, their dedication to pursuing equal justice for all, and their commitment to the independence of the Department of Justice,” Biden said.  

Rollins was elected as the District Attorney in Suffolk County in 2018. Prior to this, she served in legal positions at Massachusetts Port Authority, Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.  

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In her race for the district attorney, she defeated an independent, Michal Maloney, while running on a platform that aimed to reduce mass incarceration and racial disparities in the criminal justice system.  

In an April interview with the Associated Press,she said, “The police have an incredibly hard job, and believe me, I know there are violent people that harm community and police, but that’s not all of us. So we have to acknowledge that it’s not working, and we have to sit together to come up with solutions, but it’s urgent.”  

State Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren recommended Rollins for the position and vowed to make sure she gets confirmed quickly, the Associated Press reported.  

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“District Attorney Rollins is a national leader on transforming the criminal justice system and shifting away from an approach based on punishment and penalization to one that combats the root causes of injustice, whether it be poverty, substance use, or racial disparity,” they said.