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Obama should appoint first Black woman for Supreme Court, jurists say

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President Barack Obama needs only to turn over in his bed to be reminded of all the Black women who are powerfully qualified to be U. S. Supreme Court justices. If First Lady Michelle Obama was not his wife, some legal scholars say she would be a clearĀ and obvious candidateĀ for the short list to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.

Yet,Ā when Stevens announced his retirement April 9, not one Black womanĀ immediately surfaced as a so-called ā€œshort-listā€ candidate despite the fact that no Black woman has ever served on the high court. This week, the name of former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward SearsĀ began circulating as one that the presidentĀ is seriously considering. The National Bar AssociationĀ has put forth the name of Justice Ann Claire Williams, Ā the first African-American ever appointed to the Seventh Circuit and the third African-American woman ever to serve on any U.S. Court of Appeals.Ā 

There are at least dozens of Black women across the U. S. who are equally qualified.

According to widespread reports, PresidentĀ Obama has actually widened his search to include as many as 10 jurists from across the nation.

ā€œI think that President Obama has an enormous task and a wonderful opportunity to find a person with the combination of talents that will help solidify a great choice,ā€ says Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree in an interview. ā€œThe fact of the matter is that you can look at profiles in Ebony magazine or some of the women in Jet or Essence magazine or just look at the National Bar Association, which has a contingent of Black women judges and lawyers, to see some of those who are qualified for the job.ā€

Ogletree declined to name some of those in his mind. But, Penn State constitutional scholar Mary Frances Berry, former chair of the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, quickly ticked off several names of qualified Black women in addition to Sears. They included Elaine Jones, former director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Jacqueline A. Berrien, chair of the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Berry also agreed that Childrenā€™s Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman, a Yale Law School graduate and the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar, would make a great candidate. Lani Guinier, Harvard Law Schoolā€™s first African-American tenured professor, is another name that Berry agreed could be considered.

Fourteen years ago, President Clinton nominated; then withdrew from nomination Guinier as assistant attorney general. Amidst that 1993 blaze of controversy over her positions on proportional representation, Guinier stood prepared to fight when Clinton submitted to counsel to withdraw the nomination.Ā 

ā€œI think that it would be a good thing if a Black woman could be appointed since thereā€™s never been one,ā€ said Berry. ā€œMichelle, if she werenā€™t the Presidentā€™s wife, is full of qualifications. And there are many qualified Black women.ā€

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