by Kate Deming
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has announced his retirement from the bench after almost 30 years. Justice Breyer was confirmed to the Supreme Court in 1994 with an 87-9 Senate vote, being the last supreme court judicial nominee with fewer than 10 dissenting votes. Then-Senator Joe Biden, who was the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, oversaw this confirmation. The announcement of the retirement of Justice Breyer, a liberal justice, sets up a battle in Congress for Democrats to merely maintain the current 6-3 conservative majority. The retirement of Justice Breyer has been somewhat anticipated, and in some circles encouraged, in order for the Biden Administration to keep the current balance of the court intact.
Throughout the beginning of President Biden’s campaign he promised if the possibility opened, he would nominate a Black woman to the supreme court stating: “I’m looking forward to making sure there’s a Black woman on the Supreme Court to make sure we, in fact, get everyone represented.” It now appears he plans on keeping that campaign promise, but who is leading the President’s shortlist?
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson currently remains a top choice of candidates for President Biden’s Supreme Court Nominee. Brown Jackson is a graduate of Harvard College and Law School and has clerked for U.S. District Court of Appeals Judge Selya, U.S. District Court Judge Series, and Supreme Court Justice Breyer. She also worked in private practice, for the United States Sentencing Commission, as well as an Assistant Public Defender. In 2012, Brown Jackson was nominated to serve on the district court where she served for over eight years. It was speculated in 2016 that former President Obama included Judge Brown Jackson on his shortlist, but he eventually chose Merrick Garland. More recently, President Biden nominated Judge Brown Jackson to the U.S. Court of Appeals, for which she heard arguments concerning a subpoena of former President Donald Trump. But will it be possible for Biden to confirm Judge Brown Jackson, or any Black female Supreme Court Nominee with the increasingly divided Senate?
During Judge Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals, every Democratic Senator as well as an additional 3 Republican Senators voted for her. Senator Lindsay Graham from South Carolina, an active Conservative in the GOP, reflected on the confirmation of Judge Jackson stating: “I’m trying to be somewhat consistent here. I think she’s qualified for the job, she has a different philosophy than I do, but it’s been that way the whole time.”
Judge Leondra Kruger is another name that has appeared on the shortlist for the Supreme Court Nominee. Judge Kruger is also a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School and has clerked for U.S. District Court of Appeals Judge Tatel, and Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. She continued to work as an associate at multiple firms before becoming an assistant to the United States Solicitor General amidst the Obama Presidency, and to the United States Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. In November of 2014, Judge Kruger was nominated to the California Supreme Court, at the time being the youngest appointee ever. Despite this monumental nomination, Judge Kruger hasn’t been as vetted as her fellow possible appointees.
Other names on the list include: Judge J. Michelle Childs, Judge Wilhelmina Wright, Sherrilyn Ifill, Anita Earls, Judge Eunice Lee, among others. As this nomination is on the rise, LREI Sophomore Sammi Sapira reflects stating: “I think it’s great and long overdue. It’s about time for women of color, Black women specifically, to be represented in all parts of our government.”
Could these highly qualified candidates potentially lead to a successful confirmation of the first Black woman on the Supreme Court? The overall consensus is positive, notwithstanding the opposition of the extreme Right-wing of the Republican Party.