The Senate Judiciary Committee recently confirmed Jacquelyn D. Austin as a United States District Court judge for the District of South Carolina.
Biden’s Pick
President Joe Biden’s pick, Austin, fills the vacancy left by Judge J. Michelle Childs, who moved up to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2022.
Bipartisan Backing
On January 24, the Senate voted 79-17 to advance her nomination (a process called cloture), and later that day, she secured bipartisan support with an 80-17 vote for her confirmation.
Republican Support
Notably, while several MAGA Senators, including Josh Hawley, Rand Paul, Marsha Blackburn, Tommy Tuberville, and J.D. Vance, opposed her confirmation, South Carolina’s Republican Senators, Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham, voted in her favor.
168 Judges Confirmed
The Senate Judiciary Committee, under Chair Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), has been active under President Biden’s tenure, confirming 168 judges to federal positions and pushing forward a bill for an enforceable code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices in July.
Post-Confirmation Plans
Greenville is set to be the primary base for Jacquelyn D. Austin, as per sources knowledgeable about South Carolina’s federal judiciary system. Federal judges, like Austin, earn an annual salary of $243,000.
Austin’s Oath
Austin’s next steps include receiving her commission from President Joe Biden and then taking the oath of office, explained Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. He pointed out that Austin’s confirmation vote was exceptionally strong, one of the highest for Biden’s judicial nominees.
‘She’s very impressive’
Tobias highlighted not only Austin’s impressive qualifications but also her vigorous backing from U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a key member of the Judiciary Committee. “It is one of the strongest votes that any of the president’s (judicial) nominees have gotten,” he observed.
“She’ll be a great judge, she’s very impressive.”
Judicial Diversity
At approximately 57 years of age, Austin is the third judge of color from South Carolina that President Biden has nominated to the federal bench. Among Biden’s other nominees, Michelle Childs was promoted from a federal trial judge in Columbia to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and DeAndrea Benjamin, formerly a state judge in South Carolina, was appointed to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.
Celebrating Judicial Milestones
Lena Zwarensteyn from The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights lauded these achievements, saying “Milestones like this are important. We celebrate this progress, including the critical yet underrepresented legal backgrounds that many of these judges bring to the bench.”
South Carolina’s Judicial Landscape
Currently, South Carolina has nine active federal judges and four on senior status, which implies a lighter workload. In the federal court system, magistrate judges, who handle various pretrial motions and issue search warrants, rank just below district trial judges, who oversee civil and criminal trials.
Biden’s Diverse Bench
During his 2020 presidential campaign, Joe Biden committed to diversifying the federal bench by appointing more Black and minority judges. As of November 5, he has appointed 145 judges across the district courts, appeals courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Notably, about 66% of these appointees are women, as per the Pew Research Center.
Black Women in Judiciary
In the history of the U.S. federal judiciary, only 98 Black women have been confirmed as lifetime federal judges. Remarkably, President Joe Biden has appointed 35 of them, accounting for nearly 35% of the total. Biden also broke new ground by nominating Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, the first Black woman to hold this position.
Historic Appointments
The journey began in 1966 with the first Black woman appointed during the Johnson administration. Following a gap in the Nixon and Ford years, Presidents Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, and Trump appointed seven, one, two, 16, eight, 26, and two Black women judges, respectively.
Austin’s Career Path
Austin has served as a magistrate judge since 2011, following her tenure as a business litigation lawyer with Womble Carlyle in Greenville. She graduated from the University of South Carolina law school in 1996.
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