The presence of Black men serving as active judges on the federal appellate courts has stalled in the past 10 years, even as President Joe Biden has prioritized demographic diversity in his judicial nominations and almost doubled the number of Black women on the circuit courts (article available here).
Several Black male appellate judges have assumed a form of semi-retirement or entirely left the bench under Biden, who’s appointed one Black man and 13 Black women to the circuit courts after four years in which President Donald Trump appointed no Black appellate judges.
There are 13 Black women active judges on the 179-member appeals bench compared to 11 men, according to Federal Judicial Center data. The appointment of Black men to the US circuit courts has stagnated in the past decade.
Biden appointed one Black male circuit judge—Andre Mathis to a Tennessee vacancy on the Sixth Circuit. A second attempt stalled when the nomination of federal prosecutor Jabari Wamble to a Kansas seat on the Tenth Circuit didn’t advance. Prior to Mathis’ appointment, the last Black male appellate appointee was DC Circuit Judge Robert Wilkins, who was nominated by President Barack Obama.
Meanwhile, two Black male appellate judges have already entirely left the bench for private firms, including Joseph Greenaway Jr. of the Third Circuit, and Paul Watford of the Ninth Circuit. Two more have taken senior status, a form of semi-retirement that allows for a lighter workload: Theodore McKee of the Third Circuit and R. Guy Cole Jr. of the Sixth Circuit.
James Andrew Wynn of the Fourth Circuit and Charles Wilson of the Eleventh Circuit have also announced plans to take senior status.
Of Biden’s 14 Black circuit court appointments, 92% have been women. That includes Ketanji Brown Jackson, whom Biden appointed to the D.C. Circuit before elevating her to the Supreme Court.