Demand Justice’s Supreme Court shortlist illustrates the breadth of progressive talent available to a president committed to nominating a diverse group of justices who have spent their careers fighting to uphold the values of equal justice under the law.
Michelle Alexander
- Visiting Professor of Social Justice, Union Theological Seminary
- Author, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
- Founding Director, Racial Justice Project, ACLU of Northern California
- Clerk to Justice Harry A. Blackmun, U.S. Supreme Court
- Clerk to Chief Judge Abner Mikva, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
- J.D., Stanford Law School
- B.A., Vanderbilt University
Brigitte Amiri
- Deputy Director, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project
- Lead counsel in Garza v. Hargan, challenging the Trump administration’s attempted ban on abortion for unaccompanied immigrant minors
- Counsel to the last abortion clinic in Kentucky, defending against the governor’s attempts to shut it down
- Former Attorney, Foreclosure Prevention Project, South Brooklyn Legal Services
- Former Attorney, Center for Reproductive Rights
- J.D., Northeastern University School of Law
- B.A., DePaul University
Cheri Beasley
- U.S. Senate Candidate in North Carolina
- Former Chief Justice, Supreme Court of North Carolina
- Former Associate Justice, North Carolina Court of Appeals and Judge, North Carolina’s 12th Judicial District
- Former Public Defender, Cumberland County
- LL.M., Duke University School of Law
- J.D., University of Tennessee College of Law
- B.A., Rutgers University
Xavier Becerra
- Secretary of U.S Dept. of Health and Human Services
- Former Attorney General of California
- Former U.S. Representative, 34th District of California
- Former Deputy Attorney General, California Department of Justice
- Former Attorney, Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts
- J.D., Stanford Law School
- B.A., Stanford University
Nicole Berner
- General Counsel, Service Employees International Union
- Former Attorney, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
- Clerk to Judge Betty Binns Fletcher, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Clerk to Judge Thelton E. Henderson, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- J.D., University of California, Berkeley School of Law
- M.P.P., University of California, Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy
- B.A., University of California, Berkeley
Sharon Block
- Acting Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA)
- Former Executive Director, Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School
- Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Senior Counselor to U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez
- Former Member, National Labor Relations Board
- Former Senior Labor and Employment Counsel to U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy
- J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
- B.A., Columbia University
Elise Boddie
- Henry Rutgers Professor, Professor of Law, and Judge Robert L. Carter Scholar, Rutgers Law School
- Founder and Director, The Inclusion Project, Rutgers Law School
- Former Director of Litigation, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Clerk to Judge Robert L. Carter, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- J.D., Harvard Law School
- M.P.P., Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
- B.A., Yale University
Richard F. Boulware
- Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada
- Former Attorney, Federal Public Defender’s Office in Las Vegas
- Former Attorney, Federal Defenders of New York
- Clerk to Judge Denise Cote, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- J.D., Columbia Law School
- A.B., Harvard College
Kristen Clarke
- Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice
- Former President & Executive Director, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
- Former Chief, Civil Rights Bureau, Office of the New York State Attorney General
- Former Co-Director, Political Participation Group, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Former Trial Attorney, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
- J.D., Columbia Law School
- A.B., Harvard College
Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar
- President of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Former Associate Justice, Supreme Court of California
- Former Stanley Morrison Professor of Law, Professor of Political Science, and Director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University
- Former Special Assistant to the President for Justice and Regulatory Policy, President Barack Obama
- Clerk to Chief Judge Mary M. Schroeder, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- J.D., Yale Law School
- Ph.D. in Political Science, Stanford University
- B.A., Harvard College
Anita Earls
- Associate Justice, Supreme Court of North Carolina
- Founding Executive Director, Southern Coalition for Social Justice
- Former Director of Advocacy, University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights
- Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
- J.D., Yale Law School
- B.A., Williams College
James Forman, Jr.
- J. Skelly Wright Professor of Law, Yale Law School
- Author, Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America
- Former Attorney, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
- Clerk to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, U.S. Supreme Court
- Clerk to Judge William Norris, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- J.D., Yale Law School
- A.B., Brown University
Fatima Goss Graves
- President and CEO, National Women’s Law Center
- Co-Founder, TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund
- Clerk to Judge Diane P. Wood, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- J.D., Yale Law School
- B.A., University of California, Los Angeles
Deepak Gupta
- Founding Principal, Gupta Wessler PLLC
- Former Senior Counsel for Litigation and Enforcement Strategy, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- Founding Director, Consumer Justice Project, Public Citizen Litigation Group
- Clerk to Judge Lawrence K. Karlton, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
- J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
- B.A., Fordham University
Vanita Gupta
- United States Associate Attorney General
- Former President and CEO, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
- Former Acting Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
- Former Deputy Legal Director and Director of the Center for Justice, ACLU
- Former Attorney, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- J.D., New York University School of Law
- B.A., Yale University
Dale Ho
- Nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- Director, ACLU Voting Rights Project
- Lead counsel in Department of Commerce v. New York, challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to add a citizenship question to the Census
- Former Attorney, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Clerk to Judge Robert Smith, New York Court of Appeals
- Clerk to Judge Barbara Jones, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- J.D., Yale Law School
- A.B., Princeton University
Sherrilyn Ifill
- President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Former Professor of Law, University of Maryland School of Law
- Author, On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century
- J.D., New York University School of Law
- B.A., Vassar College
Ketanji Brown Jackson
- Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
- Former Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- Former Vice Chair and Commissioner, U.S. Sentencing Commission
- Former Attorney, Federal Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
- Clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer, U.S. Supreme Court
- Clerk to Judge Bruce M. Selya, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- Clerk to Judge Patti B. Saris, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- J.D., Harvard Law School
- A.B., Harvard College
Pamela S. Karlan
- Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice
- Former Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law, Co-Director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, Stanford Law School
- Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
- Clerk to Justice Harry A. Blackmun, U.S. Supreme Court
- Clerk to Judge Abraham D. Sofaer, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- J.D., Yale Law School
- M.A. and B.A., Yale University
Jane L. Kelly
- Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- Former Attorney, Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa
- Clerk to Judge David Hansen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- Clerk to Judge Daniel Porter, U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota
- J.D., Harvard Law School
- B.A., Duke University
Lawrence Krasner
- District Attorney, City of Philadelphia
- Founder, Krasner and Associates
- Former Attorney, Philadelphia Public Defender and Federal Public Defender’s Office in Philadelphia
- J.D., Stanford Law School
- B.A., University of Chicago
Leondra Kruger
- Associate Justice, Supreme Court of California
- Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel
- Former Assistant to the Solicitor General and Acting Deputy Solicitor General
- Clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court
- Clerk to Judge David Tatel, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- J.D., Yale Law School
- B.A., Harvard College
Catherine Lhamon
- Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Department of Education
- Former Chair, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
- Legal Affairs Secretary, Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom
- Former Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education
- Former Director of Impact Litigation, Public Counsel
- Clerk to Judge William A. Norris, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- J.D., Yale Law School
- B.A., Amherst College
Goodwin Liu
- Associate Justice, Supreme Court of California
- Former Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
- Former Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Education
- Clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court
- Clerk to Judge David Tatel, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
- J.D., Yale Law School
- M.A., Oxford University
- B.S., Stanford University
M. Elizabeth Magill
- Executive Vice President and Provost, University of Virginia
- Former Dean and Richard E. Lang Professor of Law, Stanford Law School
- Author of administrative law casebook and a nationally-recognized expert in administrative and constitutional law
- Former Senior Legislative Assistant for Energy and Natural Resources to U.S. Senator Kent Conrad
- Clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court
- Clerk to Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- J.D., University of Virginia School of Law
- B.A., Yale University
Shannon Minter
- Legal Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights
- Counsel to plaintiffs in Doe v. Trump, the first case to challenge the Trump administration’s attempted ban on military service by transgender people.
- Lead counsel in In re Marriage Cases, in which the California Supreme Court held that same-sex couples have the fundamental right to marry
- J.D., Cornell Law School
- B.A., University of Texas at Austin
Melissa Murray
- Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network, New York University School of Law
- Former Interim Dean, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
- Author of the first casebook to cover the field of reproductive rights and justice and a nationally-recognized expert in family law, constitutional law, and reproductive rights and justice
- Clerk to Judge Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Clerk to Judge Stefan R. Underhill, U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut
- J.D., Yale Law School
- B.A., University of Virginia
Adrienne Nelson
- Associate Justice, Oregon Supreme Court
- Former Judge, Multnomah County Circuit Court
- Former Attorney, Multnomah Defenders
- Former Senior Attorney, Portland State University Student Legal and Mediation Services
- J.D., University of Texas School of Law
- B.A., University of Arkansas
Janai Nelson
- Incoming President and Director-Counsel at NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
- Former Associate Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Former Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship, Associate Director of the Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and
- Economic Development, and Professor of Law, St. John’s University School of Law
- Clerk to Judge Theodore McMillian, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- Clerk to Judge David H. Coar, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- J.D., University of California, Los Angeles School of Law
- B.A., New York University
Nina Perales
- Vice President of Litigation, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Counsel for DACA beneficiaries challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy
- Lead counsel in Arizona v. Intertribal Council of Arizona, challenging Arizona’s proof of citizenship requirement for voter registration
- Lead counsel in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, a Voting Rights Act challenge to Texas’s congressional redistricting plan
- J.D., Columbia Law School
- A.B., Brown University
Cornelia Pillard
- Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
- Former Professor of Law and Faculty Co-Director, Georgetown Law Supreme Court Institute, Georgetown University Law Center
- Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice
- Former Attorney, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Clerk to Judge Louis H. Pollak, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- J.D., Harvard Law School
- B.A., Yale University
Katie Porter
- U.S. Representative, 45th District of California
- Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine School of Law (on leave)
- Former Monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement, Office of the Attorney General of the State of California
- Author of consumer law casebook and a nationally-recognized consumer protection expert
- Clerk to Judge Richard S. Arnold, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- J.D., Harvard Law School
- B.A., Yale University
Carlton Reeves
- Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
- Co-Founder, Pigott, Reeves, Johnson, P.A.
- Former Chief, Civil Division, Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi
- Clerk to Judge Reuben Anderson, Supreme Court of Mississippi
- J.D., University of Virginia School of Law
- B.A., Jackson State University
L. Song Richardson
- President of Colorado College
- Former Dean and Chancellor's Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine School of Law
- Former Partner, Schroeter Goldmark & Bender
- Former Assistant Public Defender, Racial Justice Project, The Defender Association (Seattle)
- Former Assistant Federal Public Defender, Federal Public Defender’s Office (Tacoma)
- Former Assistant Counsel, Capital Punishment/Criminal Justice Project, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- J.D., Yale Law School
- A.B., Harvard College
Thomas A. Saenz
- President and General Counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Former Counsel to the Mayor, Office of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
- Clerk to Judge Stephen Reinhardt, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Clerk to Judge Harry L. Hupp, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- J.D., Yale Law School
- B.A., Yale University
Bryan Stevenson
- Founder and Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative
- Aronson Family Professor of Criminal Justice, New York University School of Law
- Former Attorney, Southern Center for Human Rights
- Author, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
- J.D., Harvard Law School
- M.P.P., Harvard University Kennedy School of Government
- B.A., Eastern College
Christina Swarns
- Executive Director, Innocence Project
- Former President and Attorney-In-Charge, Office of the Appellate Defender (New York City)
- Former Director of Litigation, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
- Former Supervising Assistant Federal Defender, Federal Public Defender’s Office in Philadelphia
- Former Staff Attorney, Criminal Defense Division, Legal Aid Society (New York City)
- J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School
- B.A., Howard University
Zephyr Teachout
- Associate Professor of Law, Fordham Law School
- Author, Corruption in America
- Author, Break ‘Em Up: Recovering Our Freedom from Big Ag, Big Tech, and Big Money (forthcoming)
- Former National Director, Sunlight Foundation
- Co-Founding Executive Director, The Fair Trial Initiative
- Clerk to Chief Judge Edward R. Becker, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- J.D., Duke Law School
- M.A., Duke University
- B.A., Yale University
Cecillia Wang
- Deputy Legal Director and Director, Center for Democracy, ACLU
- Counsel to plaintiffs challenging the Trump administration’s Muslim ban
- Former Attorney, Federal Defenders of New York
- Clerk to retired Justice Harry A. Blackmun, U.S. Supreme Court (working in the chambers of Justice Stephen G. Breyer)
- Clerk to Judge William A. Norris, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- J.D., Yale Law School
- A.B., University of California, Berkeley
G. Helen Whitener
- Associate Justice, Washington Supreme Court
- Former Judge, Pierce County Superior Court and Washington State Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals
- Former Public Defender, Pierce County’s Department of Assigned Counsel
- J.D., Seattle University School of Law
- B.A., Baruch College
Wilhelmina Wright
- Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
- Former Associate Justice, Minnesota Supreme Court
- Former Judge, Minnesota Court of Appeals and Minnesota District Court, Second Judicial District (Ramsey County)
- Clerk to Judge Damon J. Keith, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- J.D., Harvard Law School
- B.A., Yale University
Timothy Wu
- Special Assistant to the President for Technology and Competition Policy at the National Economic Council
- Former Julius Silver Professor of Law, Science and Technology, Columbia Law School
- Former Special Advisor, National Economic Council, The White House
- Former Senior Enforcement Counsel and Special Advisor, New York Attorney General's Office
- Former Senior Advisor, Antitrust and Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission
- Clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer, U.S. Supreme Court
- Clerk to Judge Richard Posner, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- J.D., Harvard Law School
- B.S., McGill University
Jenny Yang
- Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs at the U.S. Dept. of Labor
- Former Senior Fellow, Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population, Urban Institute
- Former Chair, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Former Partner, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC
- Former Senior Trial Attorney, Employment Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
- Former Attorney, National Employment Law Project
- J.D., New York University School of Law
- B.A., Cornell University
Updates:
AP: Biden under pressure to unveil list of potential court picks
AP: Biden under pressure to unveil list of potential court picks
MSNBC: Brian Fallon on Trump’s New Shortlist
MSNBC: Brian Fallon on Trump’s New Shortlist
Supreme Court Voter Campaign Announces Ads Following Trump Shortlist Announcement
Supreme Court Voter Campaign Announces Ads Following Trump Shortlist Announcement
CBS: Democrats push Joe Biden to release Supreme Court short list and run on future court battles
CBS: Democrats push Joe Biden to release Supreme Court short list and run on future court battles
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