Last week, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement. President Biden thereafter reiterated his pledge to nominate what will be the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. 

There have been comments suggesting that by committing to the nomination of a Black woman, we are excluding qualified white male candidates from consideration. But the Court has always considered and given preference to white men over women and people of color. Less than 10% of the justices to ever serve on the Supreme Court have been women. And we have never had a Black woman sit on the Court. The Court serves to represent the people, and therefore should reflect the diversity of our nation—both in terms of demographics and professional background. It is about time.

The list of potential candidates is exceptional. For example, one candidate is Ketanji Brown Jackson, who now sits on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. She previously served as a federal district court judge at the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and as an attorney at Morrison & Foerster. Jackson received her undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University. Another candidate is Leondra Kruger, who serves as an associate justice on the California Supreme Court. She previously held several high-ranking positions at the Department of Justice, argued a dozen cases before the Supreme Court, and earned degrees from Harvard and Yale.

"The fact that no Black woman has been nominated shows a deficiency of the past selection processes, not a lack of qualified candidates to be nominated to the Supreme Court," said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. Lawyers Club applauds and supports the commitment to diversity on our judiciary.