Jamel K. Semper

Jamel Ken Semper (born 1981) is an American lawyer from New Jersey who has served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey since 2023. He previously served as an assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey from 2018 to 2023.

Education

Semper received a Bachelor of Arts from Hampton University in 2003 and a Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School in 2007.

Career

Semper served as a law clerk for Judge Harold Fullilove of the Essex County Superior Court from 2007 to 2008. From 2008 to 2013 he served as an assistant prosecutor in the Union County Prosecutor's Office and from 2013 to 2018 he served as an assistant prosecutor in the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. From 2018 to 2023, he served as an assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, where he served as deputy chief of the Office's Criminal Division. In 2021, Semper was one of seven candidates under consideration to be the United States attorney for the District of New Jersey.

Notable cases Semper was the lead prosecutor in the case of Ali Muhammad Brown. Brown, a convert to Islam and jihadi, in 2018 was convicted of multiple murders that occurred in 2014 in Seattle, Washington, and West Orange, New Jersey. Semper's prosecution in this case was New Jersey's first under the state's domestic terrorism statute.

Federal judicial service

On September 6, 2023, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Semper to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. On October 4, 2023, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On October 26, 2023, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 13–8 vote. On November 29, 2023, the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 54–44 vote. Later that day, his nomination was confirmed by a 54–44 vote. He received his judicial commission on December 1, 2023.