First Slate Of Biden Judicial Nominees Promises Great Hope For Courts

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 30, 2021 – Today President Biden announced his first slate of judicial nominees, which included Ketanji Brown Jackson to the D.C. Circuit, Candace Jackson-Akiwumi to the Seventh Circuit, and Tiffany Cunningham to the Federal Circuit. These are just the first of the 100 vacancies on the federal courts already available for Biden to fill.

Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron issued the following statement:

“We commend President Biden for nominating stellar lawyers to serve on our nation’s federal courts. Today’s nominees embody the demographic and professional diversity and forward-thinking that will ensure justice is served to the American people when they enter a courtroom. As we noted in our 2014 report, presidents need to do a better job of appointing judges with experience from all corners of the legal profession. Progressives are galvanized around our courts unlike at any point in recent history, which is why 70 groups joined us in issuing a statement of principles calling on the Biden administration to consider judges from this expanded pool of legal professionals. We are heartened they heeded our call.

Alliance for Justice plans to fight like never before to ensure these incredibly qualified nominees receive the confirmations they deserve. We have already seen Senate Republicans’ willingness to maliciously smear Biden’s nominees, particularly targeting those who are not white men. We will not abide their callous attacks. Today’s nominees, and the many more outstanding jurists to come, will be confirmed.”

Click here for our up-to-date Judicial Vacancy Tracker that lists the many open seats on the bench.

Click here to learn more about what the judicial nomination first-year timelines looked like for the Trump and Obama administrations.