Biden Judges Making an Impact
Since January 2021, President Biden has nominated – and the U.S. Senate has confirmed – a group of extraordinary jurists. Their personal and professional backgrounds are still vastly underrepresented among federal judges. Since joining the bench, they are beginning the work of transforming our courts into places that respect the rights of all of us, not just the rich and powerful.
The profiles below are of just a few of those transformative judges. For information on confirmed judges since 2021, as well as judicial vacancies and pending nominees, visit the Alliance for Justice’s Judicial Nominations tracker.
Judge Jennifer Sung
Judge Jennifer Sung is one of only a handful of judges with significant labor law experience on the federal bench.
Since joining the federal bench, Judge Sung has been a champion for equal justice.
Her personal and professional experiences bolster the wealth of knowledge on our federal courts, creating a judicial system that better reflects the communities it serves.
Judge Beth Robinson
Judge Beth Robinson is the first LGBTQ+ woman to serve on any federal circuit court. Previously, in her law practice, she had co-counsel in Baker v. State, the landmark 1999 decision that led to Vermont becoming the first state to allow same-sex civil unions, and her work on that case remains a blueprint for LGBTQ+ advocacy across the nation.
Her confirmation to the First Circuit began a shift within the federal judiciary, where LGBTQ+ Americans are drastically underrepresented. As she demonstrated in a ruling on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Judge Robinson remains a champion of equitable justice on the bench.
Judge Candace Jackson Akiwumi
Upon her confirmation in June 2021, Judge Jackson-Akiwumi became only the second Black woman to serve on the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which covers Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana.
Since joining the federal bench, Judge Jackson-Akiwumi has been a tireless champion for equal justice, especially in two important cases involving disability rights and racial discrimination in housing.