Black Lifetime Judges Confirmed During the Biden Administration
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President Biden has appointed 62 Black judges, including 40 Black women, who are now serving lifetime appointments on the federal bench. Importantly, about 40 percent of these judges come to the bench with significant experience protecting and advancing civil and human rights.
This fact sheet only includes Article III (lifetime) confirmations.
- President Biden has appointed more Black lifetime judges than any previous president in a single term, and he has tied the record for most Black lifetime judges confirmed during a presidency of any length. This includes the first Black woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
- Since 2021, the Senate has 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 has appointed the first Black lifetime judges to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Tiffany Cunningham), U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (Jerry Edwards, Jr.), U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii (Micah Smith), and U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island (Melissa DuBose).
- In addition to the U.S. Supreme Court, President Biden has appointed the first Black women to serve as lifetime judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Arianna Freeman), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Dana Douglas), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (Nancy Abudu), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Tiffany Cunningham), U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California (Dena Coggins), U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana (Cristal Brisco), U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (Lydia Griggsby), U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon (Adrienne Nelson), and U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island (Melissa DuBose).
- About 40 percent of confirmed Black judges are professionally diverse — having worked as either a civil rights lawyer or public defender (or both) or otherwise dedicated a significant portion of their careers to protecting people’s civil and human rights.