US Senate Confirms Only the 6th Native American to sit on the Federal Bench in its 232 Year History [the Legal Profession is as White as a KKK Picnic; 80% of all Judges and 85% of Attorneys are White]
The Center for American Progress found that the federal judiciary is 80% white. Among the highest state courts the judiciary is 83% white. In fact There are no Black justices in 28 states, There are no Latino justices in 40 states, There are no Asian American justices in 44 states and There are no Native American justices in 47 states. [MORE] Another study found that the state judiciary at all other lower levels is also 80% white. [MORE]
FURTHERMORE, According to the a recent study and the ABA only 5% of all attorneys are Black. Said number has remained steady from 2009 - 2019. The legal profession is nearly all white: specifically, it is 85% white, 5% Black, 5% Latino, 2% Asian American and 1% Native American. [MORE] and [MORE]
From [HERE] The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm Lauren King to serve as a federal judge in Seattle, making her only the sixth Native American to ever sit on the bench in the federal judiciary's 232-year history.
The 55-44 vote cleared the way for King to become only the fourth active Native American federal judge nationally and the first ever in Washington state. She is the 15th of President Joe Biden's 53 judicial nominees to win confirmation.
Biden has sought to elevate more women and minorities to the federal bench. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in a speech on Monday called King's expected confirmation historic.
"With her confirmation, the members of the Senate can continue the vital work of building a federal judiciary that really reflects the diversity of this nation," Durbin said.
Six Republicans joined with Democrats to vote to confirm King to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the ranking GOP member on the Senate Judiciary committee.
The others were Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mike Rounds of South Dakota.
King had been a principal at Foster Garvey, the Seattle law firm where she chaired the firm's Native American law practice group. She has also served as a pro tem appellate judge for the Northwest Intertribal Court System since 2013.
Before joining Foster Garvey, King was an associate at Byrnes Keller Cromwell from 2010 to 2012 and at K&L Gates from 2008 to 2009.
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She has also served as a commissioner on the Washington State Gambling Commission.
King, a citizen of the Oklahoma-based Muscogee Nation, is the second Native American to be confirmed to the bench under Biden, after the Senate in June confirmed Lydia Griggsby, who is also Black, to serve as a federal district judge in Maryland.