Biden appointees make diversity impact on the judiciary; nominated more district judges than Trump

President Biden has touted nominating diverse candidates to the federal judiciary, but legal experts are split on what — if any — impact they’ve had on jurisprudence to date.

Court watchers agree that the Biden judicial nominees have been confirmed quickly.

But Carrie Severino, president of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, said it is too soon to tell what impact the president’s judges are having on the rule of law.

“At this point, I think it is a little early,” she said.

On the other hand, Jake Faleschini, legal and program director at the progressive Alliance for Justice, said Mr. Biden’s picks have already issued major decisions on issues his voters care about.

“We already have seen them issue several decisions … on all sort of priority issue areas we really care about — access to reproductive freedom, securing our democracy and the right to vote, ensuring civil rights are protected, gun violence prevention laws are upheld… labor rights being upheld, Native American rights and independence being upheld,” Mr. Faleschini said.

Mr. Biden and Senate Democrats have confirmed more district court judges than former President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans did at this point in his administration.

Mr. Biden has had 149 of his district court judges be confirmed, while Mr. Trump had 138 at the same point of his presidency. But Mr. Trump had 10 more circuit court nominees confirmed than Mr. Biden at this point in his tenure.

Ms. Severino took aim at Mr. Biden’s goal of diversifying the bench, as the president has touted nominating a diverse array of jurists. Progressive advocates have welcomed the diversity, suggesting the nominees are more inclined to rule for or empathize with the parties before them.

“We should be appointing people who have a strong grasp of the law and of fairness and of the rule of law and not favoring one side or another,” Ms. Severino said. “Their goal is to have judges who are biased in one or another and that is really undermining the judicial system.”

Last week Mr. Biden released his 48th round of judicial nominees, with the White House press release noting the president is working to fulfill his promise “to ensure that the nation’s courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country — both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds.”

He made good on that promise when he tapped Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to join the Supreme Court. Justice Jackson is the first Black woman to join the high court. She also is the only member of the court with a background in federal sentencing and as a public defender.

According to Alliance for Justice, 40 of Mr. Biden’s judicial appointments have been public defenders, 26 were civil rights lawyers, five were labor lawyers and 18 were plaintiff’s lawyers.

Mr. Faleschini says that’s different from the usual background of most judicial nominees, who come with corporate law or prosecutorial experience.

He says Mr. Biden’s judges are beginning to leave an imprint on gun control and American Indian and LGBTQ rights, pointing to three cases decided last year:

• In Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation v. Wooten, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Sung ruled in favor of tribal rights in a hunting dispute between an American Indian tribe and the state of Idaho.

• In Grace v. Board of Trustees, federal Judge Gustavo Gelpi held that a mother of a teen bullied by classmates who believed her son to be gay or transgender could proceed with her lawsuit under Title IX.

• In Patriots Inc. v. Grisham, Judge David Urias ruled that New Mexico’s ban on guns at public parks and playgrounds was lawful under the Second Amendment.

Mr. Faleschini says the decisions show that Biden judges are willing to ensure all people’s rights are respected, not just those of the powerful.

“It isn’t just about outcomes. It is about how these judges approach cases, how they think about them … allow them to be empathetic and understand the different places people are coming from when they approach the bench,” he said.