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For: Publisher Updated 31 Jan 2022, 17: 21 pm EST
President Joe Biden has the opportunity to appoint a judge to the Supreme Court of Justice to at least stop the conservative advance in the High Court, appointing the replacement of Justice Stephen Breyer.
The announcement of the withdrawal of the judge of 83 years calmed Democratic anxieties that Breyer would follow in the footsteps of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg who refused at the time to retire in time to be replaced by someone of the same philosophy. Her place was finally taken by a judge totally opposed to his ideas, such as Amy Coney Barrett.
The exit allows Biden to also fulfill the electoral promise of appointing an African-American judge to the Court. The ideal thing would have been first to talk about him appointing the best person, the most prepared for the position. We believe there would have been African-American finalists to fulfill their promise.
Those might have avoided criticism that he uses affirmative action for the judiciary. In any case, the accusation was going to come from the party that precisely converted affirmative action into a practice to elect judges to the Supreme Court of Justice.
The African-American justice Clarence Thomas, the oldest and most respected by conservatives, is a product of the Yale University Affirmative Action program. He was only months on the bench when he was appointed to 1991 for the High Court. In 1979 he was a legislative advisor and then an official to former President Ronald Reagan. He succeeded civil rights giant Thurgood Marshall.
Thomas benefited from being the only African-American Republican newcomer to high office. Former President George HW Bush nominated an inexperienced man to replace an outstanding lawyer and jurist solely because of his race.
As if that were not enough, Thomas who benefited from Affirmative Action throughout his life, today he is his worst enemy.912410370 The case of Amy Coney Barrett is similar to the extent that a fighter for women’s rights is replaced by a leading judge of a Catholic group so conservative that it is outside the Church . She had to replace one woman with another.
Affirmative action is to ensure that the different points of view of a community are reflected. That’s why it’s more than race or gender. Not so for the Republicans.
Breyer’s departure and a good appointment, opens the way to revive flagging enthusiasm among Democrats. .
We hope that the Biden appointee has the support of Democratic Senators Joe Machin and Kyrsten Sinema to allow Vice President Kamala Harris to break the tie in a divided Senate. This is not the time to want to stand out.