lavarman84 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 1:28 am
It sure looks to me like some people are selling Judge Childs way short simply because she doesn't have the "prestigious" background that they're used to seeing.
I think Judge Childs would've been a great nominee to fill Floyd's South Carolina-based seat on the 4th Circuit. Lindsey Graham is one of the few Republicans (along with Collins and Murkowski) who still votes for some of Biden's appointees, so the administration probably feels the need to give him somewhat of a say. He's also voted some of Biden's nominees out of the judiciary committee when he could have forced a discharge vote that takes up time, so I understand Biden being willing to accommodate Graham. To that end, I think Graham would've had a hard time rejecting Childs for the SC seat on the 4th Circuit because he voted for her before and she hasn't been a controversial judge since then.
But for the DC Circuit? There are a million other candidates with more ties to DC/expertise in Admin Law, so I think that's why her appointment to that specific court feels like patronage and satisfying Clyburn. That can understandably rub people the wrong way, since Judge Childs does not exactly have a proven progressive track record (and unlike South Carolina 4th Circuit seat, Biden could have really picked anyone since there are no home state senators to raise a fuss for DC Cir.).
Lastly, putting her on the DC Circuit is very clearly to put her in a position to be elevated to SCOTUS if Breyer hopefully retires this year. Based on age alone, that's not great. Childs will be 56 this year, which makes her a decade older than Leondra Kruger and half a decade older than Ketanji Brown Jackson. In comparison, Barrett was 48 at the time of confirmation, Kavanaugh was 53, and Gorsuch was 50.
That being said, I'm sure there are people who would be aghast at the idea of a SCOTUS justice who didn't clerk on SCOTUS. However, I think there are other good reasons to be disappointed with her elevation and the missed opportunity to (1) solidify the liberal majority on the 4th Circuit (especially after the fiasco with Robert King) and (2) put a young progressive on the DC Circuit to balance out the likes of Walker and Rao.