Washington, DC – In response to today’s Senate vote confirming Judge J. Michelle Childs to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) issued the following statement from Advocacy Director for Judiciary & Democracy Doug Lindner:

“Today’s confirmation is a milestone in the fight for a judiciary that looks like America and protects the people’s interests. We congratulate Judge J. Michelle Childs on her well deserved elevation to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, our country’s second most powerful court. This lifetime appointment carries extraordinary responsibility for protecting the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the authority of the EPA and other federal regulatory agencies to serve the people as Congress intended. Judge Childs brings a wealth of knowledge and experience as a federal judge, a state judge, and a state agency appointee. Her qualifications speak for themselves. Additionally, Judge Childs’ confirmation to the DC Circuit adds much-needed diversity to a court on which only three Black women have ever served–even though nearly half the people who live in the District of Columbia are Black.

“Even as we celebrate this confirmation, we know there is much more work to be done to rebalance a judiciary stacked with far-right Trump appointees. We call on President Biden and Senate leadership to ensure all current and announced vacancies on the federal bench are filled with pro-environment, pro-democracy, pro-choice judges by the end of 2022. President Biden and Senate Democrats have already established an extraordinary record of appointing the most personally and professionally diverse slate of judges in American history. Beyond any president before him, Biden has prioritized women, lawyers of color, and lawyers who have spent their legal careers fighting for the people, not just polluters and other deep-pocketed interests. But as so many nominees await Senate action, as so many vacancies remain unfilled, and as the end of the 117th Congress looms, efforts by the Senate and the White House to fill these lifetime judgeships must accelerate.”

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