Supreme Court pick holds import for Black women in the law

Durham (US): When Markicia Horton graduates this spring from the Texas Southern University's Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston and takes the bar, she'll be stepping into a world where a Black woman is set to be on the US Supreme Court for the first time in its 232-year history.

With Stephen Breyer's retirement from the court and President Joe Biden's commitment to name a Black woman as his nominee, it is likely that, as the 25-year-old Horton moves into a profession, there will be a Black woman as a Supreme Court justice.

What that means for her and thousands of other young women of colour in law schools or serving as lawyers around the country is incalculable.

But it also comes with concerns. According to the National Association for Law Placement, Black women made up 3.17 per cent of associates at America's law firms in 2021 but less than 1 per cent of partners. Women of colour overall made up nearly 16 per cent of associates at America's law firms but only about 4 per cent of the partners.

And across the federal bench, Black women hold 45 of the 850 lifetime appointments to district and appeals judgeships or about 5 per cent, according to government data.

I feel like it's really important to have African Americans in positions that really do affect us, said Horton, who has a bachelor's degree in geoscience, and plans to pursue work in energy and environmental law in hopes of representing Black communities that are affected by environmental issues.

A lot of times, when I see environmental issues that are in predominantly African American communities or low socio-economic communities, as a whole, I never see any other faces that represent the whole. I kind of want to be that driving force.

That, Horton said, is what a Black woman on the Supreme Court will bring to the table. I think it will open so many doors for a lot of us, especially when you look at the numbers in the legal profession and how often African American women do leave big law firms because of the lack of opportunities, she said, adding that African American women are not

making partner at the same rate as others.

Having someone sit on the highest bench in the country, I definitely feel like it will open a lot of doors for us, Horton said.