The recent announcement of the retirement of Associate Supreme Court Justice has prompted speculation about possible replacements. President Biden has vowed to nominate a Black woman to the court. This is the second installment in a multi-part series on prospective nominees. This week's installment focuses on J. Michelle Childs. Julianna Michelle Childs was born in Detroit, Michigan. Her family subsequently moved to Columbia, South Carolina. She began her career in private practice with the firm Nexsen-Pruet in Columbia. She was eventually promoted to partner in the firm. She specialized in employment and labor law. She subsequently served as director of the division of labor within the South Carolina Department of Labor., Licensing and Regulation from 2000 to 2002. From 2002 to 2006, she was commissioner on the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission. In 2006, Childs became a Judge in Richland County. In 2009, she was nominated by Barack Obama to serve on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. She currently serves in this position. Childs received her undergraduate training at the University of South Florida and graduate training at the University of South Carolina School of Business and her law degree from the Duke University School of Law.
Background
The Honorable J. Michelle Childs (American Law Institute 100)
https://www.ali.org/members/member/374798/
J. Michelle Childs biography: 13 things about his U.S. District Judge born in Detroit, Michigan (Conan Daily, 2/7/2022)
https://conandaily.com/2022/01/29/j-michelle-childs-biography-13-things-about-us-district-judge-born-in-detroit-michigan/
Supreme Court prospect J. Michelle Childs handled MOX and Savannah River site vaccine suit. (Aiken Standard, 2/5/2022)
https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/supreme-court-prospect-j-michelle-childs-handled-mox-and-savannah-river-site-vaccine-suits/article_de61902a-85e1-11ec-8e13-cf611013b55c.html
J. Michelle Childs Fact Sheet (Alliance for Justice, 1/25/2022)
https://www.afj.org/document/j-michelle-childs-fact-sheet/
Supreme Court Nomination
Tim Scott praises potential SCOTUS nominee J. Michelle Childs, Biden taps ‘sherpa’ to guide pick (New York Post, 2/2/2022)
https://nypost.com/2022/02/02/tim-scott-praises-supreme-court-candidate-michelle-childs
J. Michelle Childs : 5 things to Know about Biden’s potential Supreme Court nominee (Yahoo News, 2/2/2022)
https://news.yahoo.com/who-is-j-michelle-childs-biden-supreme-court-nominee-black-woman-110045685.html
Judge J. Michelle Childs Head List of Supreme Court Nominees (Washington Informer, 2/2/2022)
https://www.washingtoninformer.com/judge-j-michelle-childs-heads-list-of-supreme-court-nominees/
Duke Law School alumna J. Michelle Childs among potential nominees to fill Supreme Court vacancy (Duke Chronicle, 2/1/2022)
https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2022/02/j-michelle-childs-supreme-court-nominee-justice-breyer-retire-replace-biden-black-woman-duke-university-law-school-alumna
Meet J. Michelle Childs’ husband SCOTUS nom’s family life explored (The Focus, 1/31/2022)
https://www.thefocus.news/culture/j-michelle-childs-husband/
White House Confirm J. Michelle Childs is under consideration for Supreme Court (NBC News, 1/28/2022)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/white-house-confirms-j-michelle-childs-consideration-supreme-court-rcna14043
J. Michelle Childs Now Believed to be on Biden’s Short List on Circuit Court Delayed (Newsweek, 1/28/2022)
https://www.newsweek.com/j-michelle-childs-now-believed-bidens-short-list-circuit-court-confirmation-delayed-1674228
Why S.C. Judge Michelle Childs is Clyburn’s pick to replace Breyer (Yahoo! News, 1/27/2022)
https://news.yahoo.com/why-c-judge-j-michelle-012032122.html
Controversy
Progressives Criticize J. Michelle Childs, a potential Biden Supreme Court pick (Yahoo! News, 2/7/2022)
https://news.yahoo.com/progressives-criticize-j-michelle-childs-a-potential-biden-supreme-court-pick-170455196.html
South Carolina judge is at the center of a political whirlwind around Biden’s Supreme Court decision (CNN Politics, 2/4/2022)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/04/politics/j-michelle-childs-supreme-court-joe-biden/index.html
Michelle Child’s Punitive Criminal Justice Rulings Were Repeatedly Overturned (American Prospect, 2/2/2022)
https://prospect.org/justice/michelle-childs-punitive-criminal-justice-rulings-repeatedly-overturned