President Joe Biden nominated what may be the first ever female African American judge to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th circuit, covering Alabama. The circuit also covers Georgia and Florida, where over eight million people are Black yet there is only one Black judge on the twelve person panel. The nomination of Nancy Gbama Abudu caps The President’s first year in office with forty judges confirmed. That’s the most since Ronald Reagan was president.
Charles Wilson is the only other African American judge on the 11th circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. He was nominated by former President Bill Clinton.
Biden’s second nominee is also a woman of color. J. Michelle Childs is currently a U.S. District Court judge for South Carolina. She is nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Former GOP president Donald Trump and then-Senate Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky pushed through a flurry of federal judges and three Supreme Court justices who will shape the courts for a generation. Biden and the Democrats are working to counter with a rapid number of diverse nominations and confirmations.
