Judge Michelle Childs is under consideration for Supreme Court nomination

South Carolina federal judge Michelle Childs is under consideration to succeed retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court, the White House confirmed late Friday.

Childs, 55, is based in Columbia, South Carolina, and was nominated last year by President Biden to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, often regarded as the second-most prominent federal court because of its proximity to the high court, the caliber of cases it considers and because so many of its judges have been elevated to the Supreme Court.

The Senate Judiciary Committee had been scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing for Childs's nomination next week, but aides confirmed Friday that her hearing would be postponed.

The White House explained late Friday the postponement is because Childs is under consideration to succeed Breyer.

"Judge Childs is among multiple individuals under consideration for the Supreme Court, and we are not going to move her nomination on the Court of Appeals while the President is considering her for this vacancy," White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement.

Childs is among several contenders under consideration, including Ketanji Brown Jackson, also a judge on the D.C. appeals court, and Leondra Kruger, a justice on the California Supreme Court who once served in the Justice Department's Office of the Solicitor General.

[SOURCE: CBS NEWS]

St. Louis County appoints first Black police chief

A man who has served for 42 years in the St. Louis County Police Department was named police chief Tuesday, becoming the first Black chief in the department's history.

Kenneth Gregory, 70, has served as interim chief of the department for the last six months. The St. Louis County Board of Police Commissioners appointed him chief after a four-hour closed meeting, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Police board chair Brian Ashworth said commissioners believe the department has stabilized and grown since Gregory was named acting chief July 30.

Gregory said 42 years ago no one would have considered "that a man that looks like me" would be the department's chief.

Gregory has worked in or led almost every St. Louis County police unit during his career.

He was named interim chief after former Chief Mary Barton resigned Aug. 6 when she agreed to drop a discrimination complaint against the county in exchange for a $290,000 settlement.

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.

Three Black women who could be the next Supreme Court Justice

During his campaign President Biden promised to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court. With the upcoming retirement of Justice Stephen G. Breyer, Biden now has a chance to keep that promise.

Fortunately there are several qualified candidates, so many in fact that there is almost no excuse not to pick a Black woman. While this article focuses on three perceived favorites, there are several more qualified candidates such as Michelle Alexander,Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Cheri Beasley,United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina Anita Earls.

Early discussions about a successor are focusing on U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger.

Ketanji Brown Jackson, a 51-year-old judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit who graduated from Harvard Law School and clerked for Justice Breyer, and Leondra R. Kruger, a 45-year-old justice on the California Supreme Court who graduated from Yale Law School and clerked for former Justice John Paul Stevens.

J. Michelle Childs, who has been nominated but not yet confirmed to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is another option. Childs, currently a federal trial court judge in South Carolina, is a favorite of Clyburn, who made a crucial endorsement of Biden just before that state’s presidential primary.

Leondra Kruger, 45, a justice on the California Supreme Court. A graduate of Harvard and Yale’s law school, she served as a law clerk on the high court before arguing a dozen cases before the court as a lawyer for the federal government.

President Biden nominate Vanessa Avery to run U.S. Attorney's office in Connecticut

President Joe Biden has nominated a diverse group of six attorneys to run for U.S. attorneys’ offices across the country, their latest picks for top law enforcement positions. The nominees announced by the White House include Vanessa Avery.

If confirmed, Avery would be the first African American woman to serve as U.S. attorney in Connecticut.

Avery is a former federal prosecutor who is now a an associate state attorney general in the Connecticut attorney general's office, to be the U.S. attorney there. Since 2021, she has served as the chief of the Division of Enforcement and Public Protection at the state attorney general's office. She was an associate state attorney general and worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Connecticut.

From 2004 to 2005, Avery served as a trial attorney at the U.S, Department of Justice in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division, according to the White House.

She received a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1999 and an undergraduate degree from Yale University in 1996.