ICYMI: "Phenomenal Women are Improving the Federal Bench. We're Pushing for More."
WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights highlighted the remarkable progress by U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, President Biden, and Senate Democrats to nominate and confirm highly qualified, diverse women to the federal bench.
The piece was published leading up to Women’s Equality Day, which will be celebrated on Saturday, August 26 to commemorate the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Following the confirmation of Ms. Rachel Bloomekatz to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the Senate has confirmed 140 judges to lifetime appointments on the federal bench under the leadership of Chair Durbin during the Biden administration.
Key quotes:
“These four women — a Latina voting rights lawyer, an openly lesbian LGBTQ rights lawyer, an Asian American labor lawyer, and a Black civil rights lawyer — were all confirmed to federal appellate courts in a span of fewer than 90 days. This matters tremendously for our judiciary, for our rights, and for our democracy, and it has also come to represent a critically important and enduring hallmark of the Biden administration and the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin.”
“Since 2021, the Senate has confirmed 140 lifetime judges. Two-thirds (94) are women, and more than 40 percent (60) are women of color, including Native American women. At the circuit court level, three-fourths of these confirmed judges are women, and more than half are women of color. This stands in stark contrast to former President Trump’s appointees, including his nomination of zero Black judges — and just one Latina judge — to federal circuit courts.”
“Importantly, half of President Biden’s confirmed circuit court judges are women who have experience as a civil rights lawyer or public defender (or both), including the first Black woman and first former public defender on the U.S. Supreme Court — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — who was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit before her historic ascension to our nation’s highest court.”
“The professional and demographic diversity these judges bring to our federal courts matters. Our diverse nation needs judges who reflect and represent all of us. And we know this: Demographic and professional diversity on our courts has been shown to increase public trust in the judiciary and improve judicial decision-making.”
“The confirmation of phenomenal and diverse women who are committed to civil and human rights means that our federal judiciary is finally beginning to better reflect and represent the vast and rich diversity of our nation.”
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