Joe Biden Leaves a Complicated Legacy on the Federal Courts

Biden vetoed a bill to add dozens of new federal judges to the bench, apparently fearful that Donald Trump would get to appoint them.
Biden vetoed a bill to add dozens of new federal judges to the bench, apparently fearful that Donald Trump would get to appoint them.
Susan Walsh/AP
Share
Biden vetoed a bill to add dozens of new federal judges to the bench, apparently fearful that Donald Trump would get to appoint them.
Biden vetoed a bill to add dozens of new federal judges to the bench, apparently fearful that Donald Trump would get to appoint them.
Susan Walsh/AP
Joe Biden Leaves a Complicated Legacy on the Federal Courts
Copy

President Joe Biden’s farewell to elected office on Jan. 20, 2025, presents an opportunity to reflect on the legacy he left on the federal courts.

As president, Biden’s primary legacy involves his historical efforts to diversify the federal bench in terms of the race, gender, sexual orientation and religion of his judicial nominees.

Biden appointed more women to the bench than any president before him, as well as the most racially and ethnically diverse group of judges in the nation’s history, including Ketanji Brown Jackson, the nation’s first Black, female Supreme Court justice. Biden also appointed an unusually large number of former public defenders to judgeships.

But Biden’s judicial legacy spans decades and reaches far beyond the makeup of the current Supreme Court.

Read the full article on The Conversation.

Making surfboards as an environmental statement, a Laotian family’s journey documented in Woonsocket, and a mid-winter party at the Jamestown Art Center. Here’s what’s happening in Rhode Island this coming week
This week on Possibly we’re talking to Ramón Mendez Galain, a physicist who helped the small South American country transition its electric grid to renewable energy almost overnight
The prestigious competition lauded 8 local chefs and restaurants, finalists to be named in March
Brown University students return to classes, lean on one another after the Dec. 13 shooting
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said he would veto the proposal if it passes, but the city council could override him with a supermajority of 10 out of 15 councilors
Quinn said in a written statement that he did not intend to seek a fourth term, but would finish out the remainder of the year