MEMO: Judicial Diversity Milestones During the Biden Administration

Courts News 12.20.24

TO: INTERESTED PERSONS
FROM: THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS
RE: JUDICIAL DIVERSITY DURING THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

Our federal courts are more reflective of our country thanks to the remarkable and historic progress made during the Biden administration. Our federal court system has historically failed to live up to its promise of equal justice under the law. For far too long, our judges have disproportionately been white, cisgender, heterosexual men who have possessed very narrow legal experiences as corporate attorneys or government prosecutors. Judges decide cases that impact all of our rights and freedoms, and it is vital that our judges come from more varied backgrounds both personally and professionally.

Diversity improves judicial decision-making by ensuring more viewpoints are heard:

  • Racially diverse judges include the perspectives of communities who were traditionally excluded from seats of power in the judiciary’s formal and informal decision-making.
  • Judges from different demographic and legal backgrounds infuse more viewpoints into judges’ conversations, preventing a single set of values from dominating judges’ decisions.
  • Judges with a variety of experiences — both personal and professional — often better understand the needs and respect the interests of communities who have been marginalized by the judicial system and help communities trust that courts’ decisions are not biased in favor of a select few.

For generations, our coalition has fought to set a new standard for judicial nominees: Nominees should possess diverse lived experiences and a demonstrated commitment to our rights. The Biden administration, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and leaders in the Senate have helped to set a new expectation for those who are qualified to serve on our federal courts. While there is significant progress still to make, here’s what’s been achieved to date:

PROFESSIONAL DIVERSITY

There have been at least 100 lifetime confirmations during the Biden administration of individuals who have worked as civil rights lawyers and public defenders (or both) or who otherwise have significant experience protecting civil and human rights. This accounts for more than 40 percent of the 235 lifetime confirmations to date during this administration — including more than two-thirds of confirmed circuit court judges.

Few federal judges in history have been appointed to the federal bench directly from our nation’s civil rights organizations. During the Biden administration, we’ve seen the nomination and confirmation of incredible civil rights lawyers like Judges Nancy Abudu (Southern Poverty Law Center), Nusrat Choudhury and Dale Ho (ACLU), Natasha Merle (NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund), Myrna Pérez (Brennan Center for Justice), Nicole Berner (Service Employees International Union), Araceli Martínez-Olguín (National Immigration Law Center), Julie Rikelman (Center for Reproductive Rights), Mónica Ramírez Almadani (Public Counsel), Sarah Geraghty (Southern Center for Human Rights), Nina Morrison (Innocence Project), and Amir Ali (MacArthur Justice Center). There are many other tremendous civil rights lawyers who are deeply committed to equal justice for all now serving on our federal courts.

Public defenders also play a critical role in our legal system, yet they are vastly underrepresented on our federal courts. We’ve seen 49 lifetime confirmations of public defenders during this administration, including the first former public defender to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Nearly one quarter of President Biden’s circuit court judges (11 of 45) have experience as a public defender.

DEMOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY

Women: President Biden has appointed 150 women to serve as lifetime judges, or nearly two-thirds of all lifetime confirmations.

  • This is a record for any presidency of any length.
  • President Biden more than doubled the previous record for a single presidential term (President Obama appointed 71 women during his first term), and he has surpassed the previous record for an entire presidency (138) set by President Obama.
  • Half of the women appointed (75) previously served as a civil rights lawyer or a public defender (or both) or otherwise have significant experience protecting civil and human rights.

Women of color: President Biden has appointed 89 women of color to serve as lifetime judges, including Native American and Native Hawaiian women.

  • This is a record for any presidency of any length.
  • Remarkably, these 89 lifetime confirmations more than triple the previous record. During his first term, President Obama appointed 28 women of color to lifetime judgeships, and he appointed 49 during his entire presidency.

People of color: President Biden has appointed 139 people of color to serve as lifetime judges, including Native American and Native Hawaiian judges (nearly 60 percent of all lifetime confirmations).

  • This is a record for any presidency of any length.
  • These 139 lifetime confirmations represent more than double the previous record for a single term (President Obama appointed 62 people of color during his first term). During his entire presidency, President Obama appointed 119 people of color to lifetime judgeships.

Black judges: President Biden has appointed 63 Black lifetime judges, including 40 Black women.

  • This is a record for any presidency of any length.
  • Presidents Carter and Clinton each appointed 37 Black lifetime judges during a single term — the previous record. The previous record for an entire presidency, reached by both Presidents Clinton and Obama, was 62.
  • President Biden appointed the first Black woman, and first former public defender, to the U.S. Supreme Court: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
  • The Senate confirmed 15 Black judges to federal appellate courts, including 13 Black women. Before President Biden, only eight Black women had ever served at this level of our federal judiciary. No previous president appointed more than nine Black circuit court judges — even those who served two terms.
  • President Biden appointed the first Black lifetime judges to the Federal Circuit, Western District of Louisiana, District of Hawaii, and District of Rhode Island.

Native American judges: President Biden has appointed four Native American lifetime judges, and all four are women.

  • This is a record for any presidency of any length.
  • President Biden appointed the first Native American lifetime judges in Maryland, Washington state, and California, and the first Native American woman to serve as a lifetime judge in Oklahoma.
  • Half of all Native American lifetime judges in our nation’s history have been appointed by President Biden. Still, a Native judge has never served on a federal appellate court.

Latino/a judges: President Biden has appointed 39 Latino/a lifetime judges, including 24 Latina judges.

  • This is a record for any presidency of any length.
  • These 39 lifetime confirmations surpass the previous single term record (President Obama appointed 21 lifetime Latino/a judges during his first term), and it suprasses the previous record for an entire presidency (37) set by President Obama.
  • President Biden appointed more than 20 percent of Latino/a lifetime judges in our nation’s history.
  • President Biden appointed more than 35 percent of all Latina lifetime judges to ever serve.
  • President Biden appointed the first Latino/a judges on the D.C. Circuit and the Seventh Circuit, in addition to the first Latina judge on the Fifth Circuit. He also appointed the first Latino/a lifetime district court judges in Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Ohio.

Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) judges: President Biden has appointed 41 AANHPI lifetime judges, including 27 AANHPI women.

  • This is a record for any presidency of any length.
  • These 41 confirmations represent more than triple the number of confirmations than any previous single presidential term (President Obama appointed 12 AANHPI lifetime judges during his first term), and it surpasses the previous record for an entire presidency (22) set by President Obama.
  • President Biden appointed more than 40 percent of all AANHPI lifetime judges to ever serve.
  • President Biden appointed more AANHPI women to lifetime judgeships than all previous presidents combined, including five of the seven AANHPI women ever confirmed to circuit court judgeships.
  • In November 2023, the Senate confirmed Judge Shanlyn Park to the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, making her the first Native Hawaiian woman to ever serve as a lifetime federal judge.
  • President Biden appointed the first AANHPI lifetime district court judges in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington state.

Openly LGBTQ judges: President Biden has appointed 12 openly LGBTQ lifetime judges.

  • This is a record for any presidency of any length.
  • During his two terms in office, President Obama appointed 11 openly LGBTQ lifetime judges — the previous record.
  • President Biden appointed the first three openly LGBTQ women to ever serve on federal appellate courts: Judge Beth Robinson (Second Circuit, Vermont), Judge Alison Nathan (Second Circuit, New York), and Judge Nicole Berner (Fourth Circuit, Maryland).
  • Many of the LGBTQ judges nominated by President Biden have civil rights experience, including some who have specifically advocated for the rights of queer people.

Judges with disabilities: President Biden has appointed at least two lifetime judges (Jamal Whitehead and Rita Lin) who are known to be living with a disability.

  • Judge Whitehead and Judge Lin, in addition to living with disabilities, have also worked to protect disability rights.

Muslim judges: President Biden has appointed the first four Muslim lifetime judges to ever serve in our nation’s history.

  • These judges are: Judge Zahid Quraishi (District of New Jersey), Judge Nusrat Choudhury (Eastern District of New York), Judge Mustafa Kasubhai (District of Oregon), and Judge Amir Ali (District of DC).
  • Half of these judges were appointed to the bench directly from civil rights organizations, and three bring to the bench underrepresented professional experience protecting people’s civil and human rights.
  • Adeel Mangi, nominated to the Third Circuit, would be the first Muslim federal appellate court judge in our nation’s history. After Mr. Mangi was subjected to anti-Muslim attacks, The Leadership Conference and more than 125 organizations wrote to senators calling for his confirmation and denouncing the bigoted attacks and lies.

Importantly, President Biden has appointed the first lifetime judges of color to ever serve on four district courts:

  • Judge Jerry Edwards, Jr., Western District of Louisiana
  • Judge Melissa DuBose, District of Rhode Island
  • Judge Jasmine Yoon, Western District of Virginia
  • Judge Meredith Vacca, Western District of New York

Unfortunately, the Senate has not confirmed four highly qualified and fair-minded circuit court nominees, including one who withdrew his nomination on December 12. All four possess a demonstrated commitment to civil and human rights and should be serving as appellate judges today.

      • Mr. Mangi, who has shown throughout his career a dedication to civil rights, particularly through his significant pro bono practice spanning a number of critical issues, would have been the first Muslim federal appellate judge in our nation’s history. Unfortunately, he was subjected to a dishonest and hateful attack that The Leadership Conference and more than 125 other civil rights organizations denounced.
      • Ms. Campbell’s impressive career has been steeped in protecting the rights of working people, which is vital experience that remains vastly underrepresented on the federal bench.
      • Mr. Park is a brilliant lawyer with important civil rights litigation experience who would have been the first Asian American judge on the Fourth Circuit.
  • Julia Lipez, First Circuit (Maine)
    • Ms. Lipez has served as a fair-minded judge and would have been the first woman from Maine to serve on the First Circuit.

Federal judges decide who can vote, who has access to health care, who can marry the person they love, who is paid fairly, and so much more that affects every aspect of our lives. No matter who we are or where we live, we all deserve fair-minded judges who recognize the needs of our communities, who understand how their decisions impact the daily lives of people across the nation, and who have a demonstrated commitment to civil and human rights. The work to fulfill the promise of equal justice is the work of every generation, and The Leadership Conference will continue to demand that we get closer to the day when our courts truly deliver justice for all.