Race, gender in spotlight as Joe Biden mulls US Supreme Court pick
- Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring, giving Biden a chance to fill his first vacancy on the Supreme Court
- Potential Biden nominees include Ketanji Brown Jackson, Leondra Kruger and J. Michelle Childs
Since Biden took office in January 2021, he has focused on nominating a diverse group of judges to the federal bench, installing five black women on federal appeals courts, with three more nominations pending before the Senate. Other possible candidates for the high court could come from among that group, Biden aides and allies said, especially since almost all of the recent Supreme Court nominees have been federal appeals judges.
“He has a strong pool to select a candidate from, in addition to other sources. This is a historic opportunity to appoint someone with a strong record on civil and human rights,” said Derrick Johnson, the NAACP’s president.
By the end of his first year, Biden had won confirmation of 40 judges, the most since President Ronald Reagan. Of those, 80 per cent are women and 53 per cent are people of colour, according to the White House.
Jackson, 51, was nominated by President Barack Obama to be a district court judge. Biden elevated her to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Early in her career, she was also a law clerk for Breyer.