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Joe Biden: Against a Black Woman on the Supreme Court
When Joe Biden still had sufficient mental competency to merely be “Slow Joe” Biden, he and his Senate Democrat cohorts helped torpedo the Supreme Court future of a black woman. Her name is Janice Rogers Brown, no earthly relation to me, and she was finally confirmed from the California Supreme Court to be a United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit. Yet, the bitter two-year delaying action kept her from potential consideration for the Supreme Court, and she retired to an academic life.
I remember President George W. Bush nominating this outstanding jurist, with an eye to potential future Supreme Court consideration. I did not know at the time that there was talk of turning to her, a California Supreme Court justice, when Bush’s attempt to get his Texas crony, Harriet Miers, on the court was crushed by real conservatives. He took the easier route, although not one of his first choosing, of nominating Samuel Alito to replace Sandra Day O’Connor. Brown persisted, not withdrawing her nomination in the face of Biden and his gang’s obstruction.
Democrats have been blocking Brown’s nomination since November 2003, when Republican failed on a 53-43 vote to get the 60 votes needed to bypass a Democratic filibuster.
But to avert a partisan showdown, seven Democrats and seven Republicans signed a pact last month pledging not to filibuster judicial nominees except in “extraordinary” circumstances. At the same time, they agreed to oppose attempts by GOP leaders to change filibuster procedures.
As part of that agreement, Democrats also agreed not to filibuster Brown, Pryor and Priscilla Owen.
Had she been confirmed in 2003, the Democrats knew Janice Rogers Brown would have been at the top of the discussion for Supreme Court vacancies in a second Bush term. Finally, after the delay had served its purpose, Democrats agreed to not filibuster this black woman’s nomination in 2005. On June 8, 2005, the Senate confirmed Brown’s nomination 56 to 43. Biden voted NAY.
Credit to Newsweek for fair reporting on Biden’s real history with black female judicial nominees.
Then-President George W. Bush had nominated Brown both times for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, but many Democrats tried to block her from the position for her perceived libertarian views.
Brown was born to Alabama sharecroppers and grew up in the segregated South. During her college years, Brown was a single mother with views so left-wing that she later said they were almost Maoist.
Her views grew decidedly more conservative over the years, and she has defended using electric stun guns on criminals who act inappropriately in courtrooms. Brown also wrote opinions that opposed affirmative action and supported a state law that required girls younger than 18 to notify their parents before getting an abortion.
This sounds like another Supreme Court justice and was a nightmare to leftists. However, they did not want public video of another Clarence Thomas hearing, with white Democrat men trashing a black woman after trashing a black man for having the wrong political views. So, they used a procedural strategy, successfully delaying the nomination into Bush’s second term. Joe Biden is at the core of the reason we do not have two black Supreme Court justices.
There’s one African American on the Supreme Court. If Biden had his way he wouldn’t be there. Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen, Miguel Estrada.
Look ‘em up – Biden worked his heart out to block them. Horrific record on this. https://t.co/9aP32FUZJM— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) January 29, 2022
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Published in Law
Brilliant point.
main feed directive. Make it so.
So as a country we are all in on nominating SCOTUS members based on passing racial purity and sex tests?
Is that where we are now?
Somewhere Orvil Faubus is laughing.
Brandon is really trying hard for D votes. No Asian Americans or Latino, errrr Latinex, Americans or White Americans need apply. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
So did Barack Obama.
I remember it too. Life is unfair I suppose. Politics is always unfair.
He and his Democrat colleagues also filibustered the nomination of Miguel Estrada for the DC Circuit. They were afraid he might be the first Hispanic nominee for the Supreme Court, a position for which he is eminently qualified.
Great Post and great comments!
Indeed he did.
Yes. It has long been about ideology and race for the Democrats.