The Hill: Biden under pressure to revamp the judiciary
This excerpt is from a piece that originally ran on December 24, 2020.
In 2014, the progressive group Alliance for Justice (AFJ) published a study on the backgrounds of Obama’s judicial nominees, finding that about 85 percent had backgrounds as corporate attorneys, prosecutors or both, with prosecutors outnumbering public defenders by more than three to one. And less than 4 percent of the group had worked as lawyers at public interest organizations.
“When judges come from all corners of the legal profession, it helps to maintain public trust in our judiciary,” Nan Aron, the president and founder of AFJ, told The Hill. “I think it signals that all Americans, not just the rich and powerful, will get a fair shake.”
“There’s also a critical need to repair the damage caused by the Trump judges,” she added.
Aron said that AFJ, along with more than 30 other groups, submitted several hundred recommendations to the Biden team for potential judicial nominations.