The President of the United States assured that it is a black woman who will replace the resigning judge Stephen Breyer, at the Supreme Court of the United States.
“It’s high time”: Joe Biden confirmed Thursday that he would appoint, for the first time in history, a black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States, to replace resigning judge Stephen Breyer. “The person I will appoint will have extraordinary qualifications, personality, experience and integrity. And this person will be the first black woman appointed to the Supreme Court,” said the American president, whose campaign promise it was. “It’s high time,” he said. The powerful institution had for the first time a black magistrate, Thurgood Marshall, in 1967. It currently has an African-American, Judge Clarence Thomas, very conservative.
During a speech at the White House, Joe Biden assured that he had not stopped his choice, which he wants to reveal before the end of February. The president also said the nation’s “gratitude” to Stephen Breyer, who stood by his side. The 83-year-old magistrate, known for his progressive views and playfulness, held up a copy of the Constitution. Believing that American democracy was “an ongoing experiment”, he said: “I am an optimist, I am sure it will succeed.”
Joe Biden must wrap up the proceedings before the fall’s high-risk legislative elections, which could well cost him control of the Senate, as the upper house of the US Congress has the final decision on court appointments. supreme. The Democrats have only a very slim majority there: 50 votes plus that of Vice-President Kamala Harris, against 50 for the Republicans.
And the days when Supreme Court justices were a consensus choice seem to be over. Stephen Breyer was confirmed by 87 votes against 9 by the Senate in 1994, a score unthinkable today as the partisan divisions have widened. By appointing a younger judge, Joe Biden will be able, if not to overthrow him, at least to freeze at least for a few years the current balance of power in the Supreme Court.
The institution has 6 conservative magistrates – half of whom were put in place by former President Donald Trump – and 3 progressives, all appointed for life.
Abortion
The Supreme Court plays a major role in the United States by arbitrating, with its case law, many major social debates. The institution, which has taken a clearly conservative turn and is rather hostile to too much interventionism by the federal state, seems ready to reconsider the right to abortion, to extend the right to bear arms or even to dismantle certain environmental regulations.
Several names have been circulating to replace Stephen Breyer, including those of Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, who sits on the federal appeals court in Washington, Leondra Kruger, justice of the Supreme Court of California, 45, and Michelle Childs, 55 years old, federal judge in South Carolina. By keeping his promise to appoint a black woman, Joe Biden could regain some of the lost credit with the African-American voter, whose support during his presidential campaign and at the polls was decisive.
Some activists criticize the Democratic president for having made big promises, in particular on civil rights and police violence, without translating them into action.
To read :Thinking his microphone cut, Joe Biden calls a journalist an “asshole”
In Georgia, a southern state where African-Americans had strongly mobilized for Joe Biden, 36% of black voters are now critical of the president’s action, compared to only 8% last May, according to an Atlanta-Journal poll. Constitution.
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