President Biden promises to nominate a black woman for SCOTUS, ASU law professor discusses

President Biden made a promise to nominate a black woman to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat vacated by Justice Stephen Breyer at the end of the term. Victoria Shannon Sahani, associate dean of special projects and professor of law at ASU, discussed some of the names being mentioned for the nomination.

In terms of the president’s promise, “I think it’s a wonderful thing that he actually announced it. There’s a lot that he could have done in terms of selecting candidates and vetting candidates,” Sahani said.

She added, “it’s really important that we are conscious about inclusion and diversity and I think articulating that message coming from the top[…]is crucially important.”

To Sahani, it’s important to have a black female justice within the Supreme Court. She believes that it is, “about time.”

Sahani emphasized it is also important because it sends a message to black communities, female communities, and other communities of color that they can also aspire to be within the highest political positions as well as other high positions.

“Representation matters. Seeing someone who looks like you, on the highest court in the land, means a lot for someone who is young or up in coming,” Sahani said.

Sahani discussed a few of the potential candidates for the U.S. Supreme Court Justice position and their background and knowledge in politics.