In a surprising twist of events, it was announced that Justice Stephen Breyer would retire from the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The announcement came as a shock, as much of last year Justice Breyer was being pushed to retire by his party to make the slot open for a younger justice.
On Thursday, Breyer formally announced his retirement in-person with Biden. With Breyer’s retirement, the open seat now gives President Biden the opportunity to make good on the pledge he made during the 2020 campaign that if given the chance he would nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. The motives behind that maneuver have since been debated, as it was crucial to his campaign run.
Biden reaffirmed the vow Thursday, stating “The person I will nominate will be someone of extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity. And that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court.”
And while it’s important to have a Black woman hold a seat in the highest court in the country, as the first Black woman and third black person, it is more important that this Black woman lean towards the legacy of Thurgood Marshall and not the conservative legacy of Clarence Thomas.
While Biden’s Supreme Court nominee is essential to further our democracy, it is absolutely an uphill battle for the Democrats, as Trump’s one-term legacy remains. Donald Trump was able to appoint about as many federal judges as Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton appointed individually in their respective two terms. Trump’s appointments flipped the balance of several appeals courts from majority of Democratic appointees to a majority of Republican appointees.
With affirmative action and Roe v. Wade in the crosshairs of the Republican party, every federal judge Biden appoints is crucial. Though there is a very long list of qualified Black women for Biden to choose from, it is expected for each nominee to face extreme scrutiny from the opposing party.
Here are the eight Black women speculated to be on Biden’s shortlist:
01Ketanji Brown JacksonThe 51-year-old, D.C. native graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. She worked several legal jobs early in her career, including as a staff member for the United States Sentencing Commission and as an assistant federal public defender in Washington.No stranger to Biden, Jackson was nominated to serve as a district court judge in the capital in 2012 by then-President Obama. Aside from her credentials, Jackson appears to be the obvious pick strategically, because she was just confirmed to the appeals court in June by a 53-to-44 vote. All 50 members of the Democratic caucus voted for her, as did three Republican senators: Susan Collins (R-ME), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Three Republicans did not vote. There is no rational reason for the count to be different for the SCOTUS seat, however this is the New Trump Republican party here.



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