Historically, white men have dominated federal judgeships in the United States. That’s begun to change under President Joe Biden, who tied and set new records regarding the diversity of his federal judicial appointments.
Advocates hail Biden’s accomplishments as an important step to develop more representative courts and restore Americans’ eroding public trust in the judicial branch. Critics concede that while Biden has been “marginally better” than his predecessors on federal appointments, he nonetheless continues a long tradition of favoring corporate-side attorneys from elite law firms.
Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News contributor Adrienne Lawrence reviews the key benefits of diversity in federal judgeships and why she says Americans should appreciate President Biden’s hard work to make the U.S. federal judiciary more inclusive.
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The following is an excerpt of the above video:
More than two centuries since our nation’s inception and the federal bench still largely reflects the founding fathers. Nearly 70% of federal judges are male and 78% are white. Biden was committed to changing that. He logged his way into the Oval Office by promising to appoint judges who reflect the rich diversity of the United States.
And he has been making good on this promise, installing more non-white and non-male judges than any other president before him. In fact, 63% of those Biden elevated to the federal bench are women, 30% are Black, and just under 20% [are] Hispanic. 18% are Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders. That’s more AAPI judges than any other administration has ever appointed, according to the White House. Biden’s federal appointment game looks more like a United Colors of Benetton ad, and I am here for it.
I’m also here for the fact that he’s gone beyond the surface in terms of appointing richly diverse judges. For example, Biden’s nominating judges who are coming from the openly queer community. Also other rarely represented backgrounds in law such as labor lawyers, civil rights attorneys, public defenders. Biden’s not simply putting people on the bench who are from big law with elite backgrounds, with big bucks, owed big favors.