A group of Black women from Congress, led in part by Rep. Cori Bus (D-Missouri), sent a letter Thursday to President Joe Biden. It applauded his pledge to nominate Black women to the Supreme Court. It also urged him to pick someone with a strong civil right record.
“The nomination of a Black woman is not mere symbolism; it is an essential step for our country’s promise of justice for all,” the group wrote. “It is therefore of utmost importance that the Administration appoints a Black woman with a strong track record of advancing civil and constitutionally protected rights and whose work has shown dedication to affirming the rights of our country’s most marginalized communities.”
As lawmakers pointed out, there are no Black women serving in the Senate, where this nominee will be considered. If Biden keeps his promise and a Black woman gets confirmed by the chamber she will become the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. She would also be the sixth woman to serve as a justice in the court’s history.
“History shows that the appointment of a Black justice with a strong record of affirming constitutional rights is crucial in confronting this country’s racial, civil rights, and democratic crises,” the lawmakers wrote. “As we approach this historic appointment to the Supreme Court, during a time of similarly long standing and unprecedented crises, the American people will be well served with the appointment of a Black woman to the bench who has an equally powerful record of advancing civil rights.”
The lawmakers cited examples that have had a transformative effect on civil rights like Brown v. Board of EducationThe Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation at schools was not constitutional. They also cited Shelley v. KraemerIn this case, justices ruled that it was unconstitutional to prohibit someone from owning property under certain covenants based their race.
Black scholars have also spoken out on this issue. pointing out that representation has its limits if the person who is nominated isn’t willing to fight for the people that they represent. Progressive lawmakers have called for a nomineeWho is committed to advancing justice issues.
“Of course, there is just an absolute abundance of legal genius, and Black women legal genius in this country, so I also think we need to make sure that the nominee is also advancing the administration’s values,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) recently told The Independent. “That they’re pro-labor, that they will be a champion for voting rights and for protection of people’s ability to vote and also organize their workplace, among many other things.”
Progressives have been wary of some of Biden’s picks so far, citing their previous rulings on issues like climate, labor and the criminal legal system.
Labor groups have raised concerns about one of Biden’s leading picks, Judge J. Michelle Childs, because she has a history as a management-side lawyerChilds worked for employers that were facing allegations of racism or union busting. Childs was a district judge and has ruled against inmates who claimed that they were subject to abusive conditions. Some of these rulings were so harsh that it was illegal for Childs to be a judge. they were eventually overturned.
Instead, progressive advocates claim that Someone like Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the Appeals CourtThis would be a strong option; as TruthoutAs previously reported, if she is appointed, she will be the first Supreme Court justice to represent criminal defendants since Thurgood Marshal, who retired in 1991.
