President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated three judges to serve on appellate courts, including Florence Y. Pan, who he tapped to succeed Supreme Court-designate Ketanji Brown Jackson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
The president also nominated public interest lawyer Rachel Bloomekatz to serve on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. Magistrate Judge Doris Pryor to serve on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, adding to his administration’s promise of diversity to appoint more women to federal courts.
“For example, if confirmed, Judge Doris Pryor would be the first judge of color to ever serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from Indiana,” according to a White House readout.
BIDEN IS WINNING ON ONE FRONT: JUDICIAL NOMINEES
So far, 98 of the president’s judicial nominees have been women, and a majority of his appointees have been people of color.
Pan’s nomination to the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., would be the second time Biden has selected her to fill a seat vacated by Jackson, as she was selected to succeed her as a district court judge in 2021.
In September, the Senate confirmed Pan in a 68-40 vote to become the first Asian American woman judge on the federal district court in the District of Columbia. She was previously a judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
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The District of Columbia Circuit is significant as it is considered the second-most important court after the Supreme Court. Eight judges from the circuit have gone on to fulfill roles in the highest court, including Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson, Justice Wiley Rutledge, Chief Justice Warren Burger, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
If confirmed, Pan will fill the vacancy in the circuit created in April following the confirmation of Jackson to become the first black woman on the Supreme Court after Justice Stephen Breyer steps down from his nearly 28-year tenure on the high court at the end of this term.
