Do Democrats Actually Care About Diversity in the Courts?

Democrats invoke diversity and accuse their political opponents of racism so often it's become a source of mockery from across the political spectrum. But leading Democrats' real record on the issues of race and gender paints a different picture. Take just one example that's come to the forefront of the news due to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's announced retirement: the federal courts.

The leading (white) men in charge of the Supreme Court nomination and confirmation process—President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Judiciary Committee member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)—all talk a big game on the importance of diversity in the federal courts.

"Now, with his new vacancy on the court, President Biden will have an opportunity to make history by nominating the first-ever Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court," Schumer said. "Let's face the reality here," Durbin added. "We had 115 Supreme Court Justices in the history of the United States. 108 have been white men. I really think there is room for us to consider not only women, but women of color to fill these vacancies."

But what are these Democrats' real records when it comes to supporting female and minority judicial nominees? In 2003, and for the following two years, Senate Democrats—including then-senator Joe Biden—filibustered the nomination of California Supreme Court justice Janice Rogers Brown to the D.C. Circuit, the second-highest court in the land and a stepping stone to the Supreme Court. There was much talk at the time among close observers of the courts that Brown would likely be the first Black female Supreme Court justice. But liberals smeared Brown even before she was confirmed to the California Supreme Court. Read more...

By Mike Davis | Newsweek