What a great way to segue from celebrating women’s suffrage and National Black History Month in February to celebrating National Women’s History Month in March: We have the prospect of not one but two appointments of Supreme Court justices—that’s right, two!
My counting is not off. I haven’t misplaced a Supreme Court justice somewhere. First, according to CalMatters, on February 17 Governor Gavin Newsom nominated to the state Supreme Court Patricia Guerrero, a San Diego appeals court justice who, if confirmed, would be the first Latina to serve on California’s highest court. Yay!
And second, of course, is the pending nomination of the first African American woman to the highest court in the land! President Joe Biden has moved ahead with his campaign promise to appoint an African American woman to the bench. The president waded through an embarrassment of riches to finally whittle down the playing field to three highly qualified choices. The next few weeks will result in a nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson, Leondra Kruger, or J. Michelle Childs to replace Justice Stephen Breyer.
Jackson, fifty-one, is a recent appointee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where she has served since June 2021. Kruger, forty-five, has been a California Supreme Court justice since 2015. She would be the first person in more than forty years to move from a state supreme court to the U.S. Supreme Court if she were to be confirmed. Childs rapidly become a serious third candidate after House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) publicly announced his support for her, as did the state’s Republican senators, Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott. Graham has made clear Childs is his preferred choice, which may bode well for gaining Senate approval if she is Biden’s pick.
Let’s take a minute to cherish this moment, because women’s rights are still under attack. These potential new justices have yet to make their presence felt through balanced decisions that could affect women’s lives for years to come.
Locally, we also have a victory to celebrate: Pasadena has just passed a resolution to support women’s reproductive health. You can read about it in the article “Council Passes Resolution Supporting Reproductive Rights” published by Pasadena Now. LWV-PA supported this resolution in the Pasadena Caravan for Choice last October.
Nationally, in 2020 at its biennial convention, the League of Women Voters’ collective decided to push for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Contrary to myth, the ERA is not dead—it is very much alive. Read the article in this issue of the Voter about the trials and tribulations of certifying this now fully ratified amendment to the U.S. Constitution as the law of the land.
In solidarity with you,
—Martha Y. Zavala
