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Biden Appoints 40 Black Women as Federal Judges, Breaking Record

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1 year ago

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In the final days of his presidency, Biden has made good on a campaign promise to diversify the federal judiciary, by appointing a record-breaking 40 Black women as judges. All together, Biden has appointed 63 Black judges.

As he approaches his final weeks in the Oval Office, political pundits are offering appraisals of his presidency’s impact on the Black community.

The Biden administration’s efforts to expand funding for historically Black colleges and universities, bolster gun violence intervention programs, and create the first-ever executive orders promoting equity and racial justice stand as examples of policies during a presidency that historians, analysts, and political scientists say was nothing if not consequential.

His Black judicial appointments, experts say, are also important because they may play a crucial role in serving as a judicial check on the second presidency of Trump, who has vowed to dismantle government agencies such as the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division — a move that is likely to face a stiff legal challenge.

Having the Black woman’s experience on the federal bench is “extremely important” because “there is a different kind of voice that can come from the Black female from the bench,” said Delores Jones-Brown, a professor emeritus at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York who studies judicial appointments.

Lena Zwarensteyn, who studies legal issues at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Humans Rights, said the move also signals a very specific ideological intent on the part of the president. Biden populated the bench with Black judges who may often be on the front lines of weighing some of the most significant issues facing the Black community, including health care access, equity in education, fair hiring practices, abortion, and voting rights.

“Those very district court judges are usually the first ones to hear cases, and they hear many, many, many more than our circuit courts,” added Zwarensteyn, whose group is a coalition of roughly 240 national civil and human rights groups. “Those decisions are often, at times, the very final decisions because very few cases actually get heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Biden’s appointments largely deliver on a pledge made during his presidential campaign to promote equity in the judicial system by diversifying the bench. The appointments come in addition to Biden’s most high-profile-judicial nominee, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court.

“Even if it means going against their colleagues”

Before Biden’s appointments, only eight Black women had ever served at the appellate court level of the federal judiciary, according to data compiled by Zwarensteyn’s group. The only other president who comes close to the pace of Biden’s appointment of Black judges was Carter at 37, but that included only seven Black women.

Out of the 234 lifetime judicial appointments during Donald Trump’s first term, only two were Black women. Seven of those judges were Black men.

“It’s astonishing,” Zwarensteyn said of the makeup of Trump’s appointments.

So far, Biden has made over 230 lifetime judicial appointments as of Dec. 9 when Tiffany Johnson was confirmed as the 40th Black woman judge, said Patrick McNeil, a spokesman for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Holding a lifetime appointment could empower a judge to issue rulings without fear that they may suffer political consequences, such as losing their seats on the bench, because of their decisions.

Jones-Brown said she was pleasantly surprised by the number of Black women who have received lifetime appointments. She said she expects those judges, in particular, to embrace the challenges that the next president’s term might bring.

“I think many of the Black women will understand that their role is to provide justice in places where it has not been,” Jones-Brown told Capital B. “Even if it means going against their colleagues, even interpreting the law in a way that others may not.”

Through their rulings, Jones-Brown said, those women judges can draw on their lived experiences to play a vital role in promoting fairness, particularly in cases on the bench that concern issues of race or gender.

And they provide “a sort of different kind of cultural presence that” Black women have, she said.

The cultural presence means that some judges are entering federal jurisdictions where few, if any, people of color have served on the bench before.

“There are still courts in the Southern states that still don’t look like … the people they serve because Republican senators have blocked all kinds of diverse nominees, or any nominee from the Democratic president,” said Carolyn Leary Bobb, vice president of communications for Alliance for Justice, a progressive group that advocates for judicial diversity.

Nancy G. Abudu, a Biden appointee who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in May 2023, is the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which is based in Atlanta and considers cases in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia.

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Houston

Turnout, Trust, and Ground Game: What Decided Houston’s Runoff Elections

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5 days ago

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December 14, 2025

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Low-turnout runoff races for Houston City Council and Houston Community College trustee seats revealed how message discipline, local credibility, and voter mobilization determined clear winners—and decisive losers.

The final ballots are counted, and Houston’s runoff elections have delivered clear outcomes in two closely watched local races, underscoring a familiar truth of municipal politics: in low-turnout elections, organization and credibility matter more than name recognition alone.

In the race for Houston City Council At-Large Position 4, Alejandra Salinas secured a decisive victory, winning 25,710 votes (59.27%) over former council member Dwight A. Boykins, who garnered 17,669 votes (40.73%). The margin was not accidental. Salinas ran a campaign tightly aligned with voter anxiety over public safety and infrastructure—two issues that consistently dominate Houston’s civic conversations. Her emphasis on keeping violent criminals off city streets and expanding Houston’s water supply spoke directly to quality-of-life concerns that resonate across districts, especially in an at-large contest where candidates must appeal to the city as a whole.

Salinas’ win reflects the advantage of message clarity. In a runoff, voters are not looking to be introduced to candidates—they are choosing between candidates they are already familiar with. Salinas presented herself as forward-looking and solutions-oriented, while Boykins, despite his experience and political history, struggled to reframe his candidacy beyond familiarity. In runoffs, nostalgia rarely outperforms momentum.

The second race—for Houston Community College District II trustee—followed a similar pattern. Renee Jefferson Patterson won with 2,497 votes (56.63%), defeating Kathleen “Kathy” Lynch Gunter, who received 1,912 votes (43.37%). Though the raw numbers were smaller, the dynamics were just as telling.

Patterson’s victory was powered by deep local ties and a clear institutional vision. As an HCC alumna, she effectively positioned herself as both a product and a steward of the system. Her pledge to expand the North Forest Campus and direct resources to Acres Home connected policy goals to place-based advocacy. In trustee races, voters often respond less to ideology and more to proximity—those who understand the campus, the students, and the neighborhood. Patterson checked all three boxes.

By contrast, Gunter’s loss highlights the challenge of overcoming a candidate with genuine community roots in a runoff scenario. Without a sharply differentiated message or a strong geographic base, turnout dynamics tend to favor candidates with existing neighborhood networks and direct institutional relevance.

What ultimately decided both races was not a surprise, but execution. Runoffs reward campaigns that can re-mobilize supporters, simplify their message, and convert familiarity into trust. Salinas and Patterson did exactly that. Their opponents, though credible, were unable to expand or energize their coalitions in a compressed electoral window.

The lesson from Houston’s runoff elections is straightforward but unforgiving: winners win because they align message, identity, and ground game. Losers lose because, in low-turnout contests, anything less than that alignment is insufficient.

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Africa

Nigeria–Burkina Faso Rift: Military Power, Mistrust, and a Region Out of Balance

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5 days ago

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December 14, 2025

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The brief detention of a Nigerian Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft and its crew in Burkina Faso may have ended quietly, but it exposed a deeper rift shaped by mistrust, insecurity, and uneven military power in West Africa. What was officially a technical emergency landing quickly became a diplomatic and security flashpoint, reflecting not hostility between equals, but anxiety between unequally matched states navigating very different political realities.

On December 8, 2025, the Nigerian Air Force transport aircraft made an unscheduled landing in Bobo-Dioulasso while en route to Portugal. Nigerian authorities described the stop as a precautionary response to a technical fault—standard procedure under international aviation and military safety protocols. Burkina Faso acknowledged the emergency landing but emphasized that the aircraft had violated its airspace, prompting the temporary detention of 11 Nigerian personnel while investigations and repairs were conducted. Within days, the crew and aircraft were released, underscoring a professional, if tense, resolution.

Yet the symbolism mattered. In a Sahel region gripped by coups, insurgencies, and fragile legitimacy, airspace is not merely technical—it is political. Burkina Faso’s reaction reflected a state on edge, hyper-vigilant about sovereignty amid persistent internal threats. Nigeria’s response, measured and restrained, reflected confidence rooted in capacity.

The military imbalance between the two countries is stark. Nigeria fields one of Africa’s most formidable armed forces, with a tri-service structure that includes a large, well-equipped air force, a dominant regional navy, and a sizable army capable of sustained operations. The Nigerian Air Force operates fighter jets such as the JF-17 and F-7Ni, as well as A-29 Super Tucanos for counterinsurgency operations, heavy transport aircraft like the C-130, and an extensive helicopter fleet. This force is designed not only for internal security but for regional power projection and multinational operations.

Burkina Faso’s military, by contrast, is compact and narrowly focused. Its air arm relies on a limited number of light attack aircraft, including Super Tucanos, and a small helicopter fleet primarily dedicated to internal counterinsurgency. There is no navy, no strategic airlift capacity comparable to Nigeria’s, and limited logistical depth. The Burkinabè military is stretched thin, fighting multiple insurgent groups while also managing the political consequences of repeated military takeovers.

This imbalance shapes behavior. Nigeria’s military posture is institutional, outward-looking, and anchored in regional frameworks such as ECOWAS. Burkina Faso’s posture is defensive, reactive, and inward-facing. Where Nigeria seeks stability through deterrence and cooperation, Burkina Faso seeks survival amid constant internal pressure. That difference explains why a technical landing could be perceived as a “serious security breach” rather than a routine aviation incident.

The incident also illuminates why Burkina Faso continues to struggle to regain political balance. Repeated coups have eroded civilian institutions, fractured command structures, and blurred the line between governance and militarization. The armed forces are not just security actors; they are political stakeholders. This creates a cycle where insecurity justifies military rule, and military rule deepens insecurity by weakening democratic legitimacy and regional trust.

Nigeria, despite its own security challenges, has managed to avoid this spiral. Civilian control of the military remains intact, democratic transitions—however imperfect—continue, and its armed forces operate within a clearer constitutional framework. This stability enhances Nigeria’s regional credibility and amplifies its military superiority beyond hardware alone.

The C-130 episode did not escalate into confrontation precisely because of this asymmetry. Burkina Faso could assert sovereignty, but not sustain defiance. Nigeria could have asserted its capability, but chose restraint. In the end, professionalism prevailed.

Still, the rift lingers. It is not about one aircraft or one landing, but about two countries moving in different strategic directions. Nigeria stands as a regional anchor with superior military power and institutional depth. Burkina Faso remains a state searching for equilibrium—politically fragile, militarily constrained, and acutely sensitive to every perceived threat from the skies above.

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Bizarre Epstein files reference to Trump, Putin, and oral sex with ‘Bubba’ draws scrutiny in Congress

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1 month ago

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November 14, 2025

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The latest tranche of emails from the estate of late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein includes one that contains what appear to be references to President Donald Trump allegedly performing oral sex, raising questions the committee cannot answer until the Department of Justice turns over records it has withheld, says U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

Garcia insists the Trump White House is helping block them.

In a Friday afternoon interview with The Advocate, the out California lawmaker responded to a 2018 exchange, which was included in the emails released, between Jeffrey Epstein and his brother, Mark Epstein. In that message, Mark wrote that because Jeffrey Epstein had said he was with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, he should “ask him if Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba.”

“Bubba” is a nickname former President Bill Clinton has been known by; however, the email does not clarify who Mark Epstein meant, and the context remains unclear.

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