Today, the Supreme Court is split between six conservatives and three liberals. According to the White House, President Joe Biden will keep his promise to nominate an African-American woman to the Supreme Court.
In Summary
- According to the White House, Joe Biden will keep his vow to nominate an African-American woman to the Supreme Court.
- The nominee would succeed liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who is expected to retire at the end of the current term in June.
- Jackson, 51, is the lead candidate for the position, previously worked as a law clerk for Justice Breyer, and in June, she was confirmed to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The supreme court is critical in American society.
The nominee would succeed Stephen Breyer, the liberal justice who is expected to retire at the end of the current Supreme Court session in June.
Justice Breyer’s retirement plans have not been made official.
The replacing of Justice Breyer would not affect the court’s current 6-3 conservative majority.
The Supreme Court is a critical part of American life, often ruling on immensely contentious laws, disagreements between states and the federal government, and final appeals to stop executions.
Each of the nine judges – referred to as justices – is appointed for life after being nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
“The president has emphasized and restated his commitment to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court, and he most emphatically stands by that,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a news conference.
Only two African Americans – both men – have ever served on the court: Justice Thurgood Marshall from 1967 to 1991 and his successor, Justice Clarence Thomas, who will soon become the court’s oldest member at age 73.
Even after the 1960s, the civil rights movement culminated in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s selection of Thurgood Marshall as the first Black Supreme Court justice in 1967, Black women’s access to the levers of judicial authority remained restricted.
Mr. Johnson also named the nation’s first Black female federal judge in 1966, Constance Baker Motley, to the Southern District of New York.
Mr. Biden made his vow to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court during a February 2020 debate just days before confronting his Democratic rivals in South Carolina’s Democratic primary. Black people account for a sizable number of the party’s voters. At the time, his campaign was in chaos following defeats in two early presidential contests.
Potential Democratic justices to US Supreme Court
Brown, Ketanji Jackson, 51, a former law clerk to Mr. Breyer, is widely regarded as the leading candidate for the position.
In June, Ms. Jackson was confirmed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, succeeding incumbent Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Another contender is Leondra Kruger, 45, a member of the California Supreme Court.
Another possible candidate is J Michelle Childs, a federal judge in South Carolina.
Ketanji Brown Jackson is considered to be the front runner.
Democrats have been urging Justice Breyer – who is the court’s senior member at 83 – to retire so they may fill the seat with someone younger while they retain control of the White House and Senate.
The most recent vacancy on the Supreme Court occurred in 2020 when liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died at 87. Former President Donald Trump chose Justice Amy Coney Barrett as her successor less than two months before the US presidential election.
Progressives such as New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have publicly called for Justice Breyer’s resignation.
A van rented by the group Demand Justice was also seen driving around Washington with the slogan “Breyer Retire.”
According to various sources, Mr. Breyer was “upset” with the leaked news because he “was not expecting to announce his retirement today.”
According to CNN, President Biden and Justice Breyer will appear together at a news conference on Thursday to confirm Breyer’s retirement.
