Senate approves openly gay U.S. Marshal for Minnesota

Minnesota's next U.S. Marshal will be Minneapolis' openly gay Assistant Police Chief Sharon Lubinski. Her confirmation by the U.S. Senate was announced Monday morning by Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar, who recommended her. Lubinkski was formally nominated for the post in October by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in a flurry of pre-holiday legislative activity last week. U.S. Marshals oversee federal courthouse security, protect witnesses, transport prisoners, and catch federal fugitives. Already one of the nation's highest-ranked female law-enforcement officers, Lubinski now becomes the state's first female U.S. marshal and one of only two women in the nation currently serving in the post. Lubinski has risen through the Minneapolis police ranks since joining the force in 1987. She was a finalist for the Minneapolis police chief job in 2004.