By Jerry Markon, Sari Horwitz and Mike DeBonis, Washington Post – Black civil rights groups and activists are pressing the nation’s first African American president to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court, calling it an overdue historic first at a time of growing ethnic diversity and an intense debate about racial justice issues.
The pressure has been building since Justice Antonin Scalia’s sudden death gave President Obama what is likely his final opportunity to shape the high court, according to civil rights activists and people familiar with the selection process. At a recent White House meeting, for example, a number of activists directly urged the president to nominate an African American woman, pointing out that they had supported him at the polls in overwhelming numbers, said people in attendance.
“The appointment of an African American woman to the Supreme Court is essential to his legacy,” said Barbara R. Arnwine, president of the Transformative Justice Coalition, who helped launch one of two online petitions calling on Obama to defy fierce Republican opposition to any nomination being made and name a woman of color to the court.
The lobbying push comes as the White House intensifies its deliberations over replacing Scalia, whose Feb. 13 death kicked off a ferocious ideological battle for control of the Supreme Court. Read the full story at WashingtonPost.com.
