Courts

Who Do YOU Think Will Replace Stephen Breyer On The Supreme Court?

Time to weigh in on the potential nominee.

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Supreme Court QuestionIt’s official: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring. This opens up Joe Biden’s first opportunity to nominate a Supreme Court justice, so the question on everyone’s mind is: who’s getting the nod?

While a SCOTUS nomination is new, Biden has spent the first year of his presidency busily nominating federal judges, so we have some clues as to what he’s looking for in a nominees. Biden has been lauded for championing diversity in his picks so far — selecting the first out LGBTQ woman to a circuit court, the first Muslim American federal judge, and nominating more Black women to circuit court positions than any other president. It’s clear that making sure the federal bench is more than just white men is a priority for Biden, as has casting the net of potential judges wider that just prosecutors and Biglaw.

Now, taking a guess at who will get a Supreme Court nod is a time-honored tradition. So we’ve gathered some of the more likely nominees and are letting Above the Law readers pick their fav.

The Contenders:

Ketanji Brown Jackson: Currently on the D.C. Circuit. Formerly on the District Court for the District of Columbia — and also did a stint at Biglaw firm Morrison & Foerster. J.D. from Harvard Law School. Former clerk of Justice Breyer.

Leondra Kruger: Currently on the California Supreme Court. Previously worked as assistant to the United States Solicitor General and the acting principal deputy solicitor general. Did time as a Biglaw associate at Jenner & Block and Wilmer Cutler. J.D. from Yale Law School. Former clerk of Justice John Paul Stevens.

J. Michelle Childs: Currently on the District Court for the District of South Carolina and nominated for United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Former partner at Nexsen Pruet and has served as a commissioner on the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission. J.D. from University of South Carolina School of Law, LLM from Duke University.

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Kamala Harris: Currently Vice President of the United States of America. Former U.S. Senator, former California Attorney General. J.D. from UC Hastings Law.

Wilhelmina “Mimi” Wright: currently on the District Court for the District of Minnesota. Formerly served on the Minnesota Supreme Court. Formerly Assistant United States attorney for the District of Minnesota, and was an associates at Hogan & Hartson, now known as Hogan Lovells. J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Candace Jackson-Akiwumi: Currently on the Seventh Circuit. Former partner at Zuckerman Spaeder, and previously a staff attorney at the federal defender program in the Northern District of Illinois, also worked as an associate at Skadden. J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Eunice Lee: Currently on the Second Circuit. Former public defender in New York City. J.D. from Yale Law School.

Leslie Abrams Gardner: Currently on the District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Former associate at Skadden and an Assistant U.S. Attorney. J.D. from Yale Law School.

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Sherrilyn Ifill: Currently President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, set to step down from the role this spring. J.D. from NYU School of Law.

Sri Srinivasan: Currently on the D.C. Circuit. Previously Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States and former partner at O’Melveny & Myers. J.D. from Stanford Law School.

Paul Watford: Currently on the Ninth Circuit. Former partner at Munger Tolles, and served as an Assistant United States Attorney. Clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (also clerked for the disgraced Judge Alex Kozinski). J.D. from UCLA.

Jane Kelly: Currently on the Eighth Circuit. Previously worked in the federal public defender office in the Northern District of Iowa. J.D. from Harvard Law School (she was a classmate of Barack Obama).

Patricia Millett: Currently on the D.C. Circuit. Former partner at Akin Gump, former assistant to the United States Solicitor General, occasional blogger (SCOTUSblog). J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Steve Harvey: Fake judge, funny man.

Though it seems, ahem likely, one of the Black women on the list will get the nod, it is now your turn to weigh in.

Vote in the poll below.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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