Biden and Schumer are building a phenomenal judicial appointment record, but can’t stop now

Everything Schumer quotes is true. The judges that the Senate ransacked at a record place are historically different:

In a comprehensive report, Alliance for Justice has highlighted the judges’ many premieres: the first openly lesbian appeals judge (Beth Robinson); the first Korean American to sit on the Court of Appeal (Lucy Koh); the first Muslim federal judge (Zahid Quraishi); first black judge on the US Federal District Court of Appeals (Tiffany Cunningham); the first woman of color to serve in the US District Court in Maryland (Lydia Griggsby); First Washington State Native American Judge Lauren J. King – the list goes on. According to the Alliance for Justice, nearly 75 percent of Biden’s nominees for Justice are women and nearly 65 percent are colored. For comparison, only 24 percent of Trump’s candidates for justice were women, and only 16 percent were black.

In addition, they are characterized by professional diversity: “21 public defenders, 14 civil rights activists, 10 plaintiff lawyers, three former legal aid lawyers, three consumer protection lawyers and one labor lawyer. ”

It’s not all great news, however. For one, there are voting and civil rights and LGBTQ rights champions among Biden’s nominees, however “Not a single candidate who specializes in protecting access to abortion – no one like Brigitte Amiri, the fearless ACLU attorney, for example foiled the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent undocumented minors from terminating unwanted pregnancies. ”That is a blatant omission – and quite a daunting one given the future of abortion law with the current Supreme Court.

That is the other problem. All of these judges can make a difference, but only to the point where their cases stand up and don’t make it to the Supreme Court. For as it is currently constituted, any significant progressive movement by the lower courts will be undone thanks to the pack of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell.

In addition to realizing that Biden achieved this as a result of the Filibuster Reform, it’s also important to note that the moment McConnell had the opportunity to do so, he also changed the rule for Supreme Court Justices to do just that could do what he’d done: packing.

You’d think old Senate cocks like Biden and Schumer, who had the questionable advantage of serving at McConnell and seeing what he can do, wouldn’t be squeamish at all about doing what is necessary to thwart him. Like expanding the Supreme Court to water down the pernicious, regressive, and mainstream off-mainstream Conservative majority, the last three of which were literally crammed full. Neil Gorsuch sits in the seat that McConnell stole from President Barack Obama. Brett Kavanaugh serves under about five different ethical clouds, from alleged sexual assault to perjury before Congress. Amy Coney Barrett was put on trial when people were voting for their presidential election in the fall of 2020.

So, yes, Biden and Schumer should use this moment to celebrate, but they can’t rest on this feat. Much more needs to be done to secure the future of the nation.

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