American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary rates Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson “Well Qualified”

The American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has completed its evaluation of the professional qualifications of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s nominee to the United States Supreme Court, and has given her a unanimous rating of “Well Qualified.”

The Standing Committee confines its evaluation to the qualities of integrity, professional competence and judicial temperament. The Honorable Ann Claire Williams (Ret.), chair of the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, is scheduled to testify about the rating before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, March 24.

The ABA’s letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on the rating can be read here.

The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law. 

Black women rally at the Supreme Court for Ketanji Brown Jackson

Women from the Black Women's Roundtable converged on Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to support Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson and voting rights legislation that has stalled in the Senate.

Ben Crump endorses Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump publicly urged President Joe Biden to tap Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court on Wednesday, as the president closes in on a decision for his first nomination to the high court.

"In my view, that of a civil rights lawyer and advocate who is committed to bringing justice, respect, and fairness to this nation, and particularly to my community, that woman is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson," Crump said in a statement, provided first to ABC News.

The endorsement -- the first from a high-profile Black civil rights advocate -- is a significant boost for Jackson after African American community leaders have spent weeks largely remaining neutral on the pick.

"My standards for this nominee go beyond integrity, brilliance and fairness," Crump said in the statement. "I carry the additional purchase that this justice must represent African Americans in a way that has cultural competency, forcefulness and instills deep pride."

[SOURCE: YAHOO]

Black congresswomen write letter praising Pres. Biden for keeping Supreme Court pledge

A group of 14 Black Congresswomen including Rep, Cori Bush, Rep. Barbara Lee, and Rep. Joyce Beatty wrote a public letter to President Joe Biden Thursday, commending him for pledging to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court amid a conservative backlash that he was instituting a "quota" system.

Read that letter below:

Rep. Bush_Supreme Court Letter by George L. Cook III

Georgetown Law School suspends legal scholar who said Biden would name a 'lesser Black woman' to the Supreme Court

Georgetown Law School has put Ilya Shapiro, an incoming director of a research institute, on administrative leave following a series of deleted tweets about President Joe Biden naming a "lesser Black woman" to the Supreme Court instead of other potential nominees due to the president's promise to make a historic selection.

"Even has identity politics benefit of being first Asian (Indian) American. But alas doesn't fit into latest intersectionality hierarchy so we'll get lesser black woman. Thank heaven for small favors?" Shapiro wrote in a now-deleted tweet.

"Ilya Shapiro's tweets are antithetical to the work that we do here every day to build inclusion, belonging, and respect for diversity," Georgetown Law School Dean William Treanor wrote in a note to the law school community, according to Slate's Mark Joseph Stern.

Treanor said Shapiro will remain on leave and off-campus until an investigation into whether he violated the university's policies and "expectations of professional conduct" is complete. InsideHigherEd reported that the Georgetown Black Law Students Association among others had previously called for Shapiro's termination.

[SOURCE: MSN]

Rep. James Clyburn on what it would mean to have a Black woman on the Supreme Court

Democratic Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina says naming a Black woman like Judge Michelle Childs to the Supreme Court "says to every little child out there growing up in moderate circumstances … you've got just as much of a chance to benefit from the greatness of this country as everybody else."

VP Kamala Harris Will Play a 'Central Role' in Biden's Search for a Supreme Court Pick

White House Press Secretay Jen Psaki says Vice President Kamala Harris will have a “central role” in President Joe Biden’s search for a nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court.

During a press briefing on Thursday, Psaki said, “The vice president will play a central role in this process, and the president intends to consult with her very closely.”

“Obviously, she has a long history as a former attorney general, a member of the judiciary committee, and he respects her opinion greatly,” she added.

Biden compiling list of possible Black women nominees for the Supreme Court

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden said Tuesday that he’s compiling a list of Black women that could be potential nominees to the Supreme Court.

“We are putting together a list of a group of African American women who are qualified and have the experience to be in the court,” Biden said during a press conference in Delaware. “I am not going to release that until we go further down the line of vetting them as well.”

[SOURCE: THE HILL]