On Sunday, Joe Biden said he would not emulate President Trump and release a list of potential Supreme Court nominees before he is elected.
Biden will not name the figures he is likely to nominate, but the Article III Project, an activist group that “promotes and defends President Trump’s judicial nominees and appointed judges,” has assembled a list of twelve figures likely to get strong consideration during a Biden presidency. The Article III Project was founded in 2019 by Mike Davis, who previously served as chief counsel for nominations for Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley from 2017 to 2019.
“Unlike President Trump who has brought refreshing transparency to Supreme Court nominations by publicly releasing his list of candidates for consideration, former Vice President has refused to honor his pledge to release his own list,” said Davis. “The American public has a right to know what kinds of individuals former Vice President Biden would consider, especially now as another vacancy has opened up. If Vice President Biden will not release his list, then we will do it for him.”
Most of the twelve were mentioned as strong candidates by Demand Justice, a progressive activist group focused on judicial nominations:
Stacey Abrams — Former gubernatorial candidate and Fair Fight president (NBC News story, Biden statement about appointing a Black female)
Brigitte Amiri — ACLU lawyer (referred by Demand Justice)
Xavier Becerra — Democratic Attorney General of California, former House member (specifically referred by Demand Justice)
James Forman, Jr. — Yale Law School professor (specifically referred by Demand Justice)
Rochelle Garza — ACLU of Texas staff attorney (specifically referred by People’s Parity Project)
Deepak Gupta — Appellate lawyer, Gupta Wessler
Sherrilyn Ifill — NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund president
Pam Karlan — Stanford Law School professor, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Voting Rights
Leah Litman — University of Michigan Law School professor
Melissa Murray — NYU School of Law professor (specifically referred by Demand Justice)
Judge Cornelia “Nina” Pillard — D.C. Circuit Judge (specifically referred by Demand Justice)
Zephyr Teachout — Fordham Law School professor (specifically referred by Demand Justice)
The Article III Project lists more about those figures at BidenShortList.com.