The U.S. Senate confirmed DeAndrea Benjamin, a South Carolina state court judge, to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, on Thursday. Benjamin was confirmed in a 53-44 vote, which included support from her state’s two Republican senators. She is now the second Black woman to serve on the court based in Richmond, Virginia. This marks President Joe Biden’s 98th confirmed judicial nominee and his second appointee to the 4th Circuit, which handles appeals from Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer from New York referred to Benjamin’s appointment to the appeals court as a “long-overdue step” in ensuring that the bench reflects the diversity of the Fourth Circuit. Benjamin was recommended to Biden by South Carolina’s Representative James Clyburn, the fourth-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Clyburn introduced Benjamin at a November 15 hearing as a “longtime friend” with family members well-known in the state capital of Columbia. Her husband, Steve Benjamin, is a former mayor of Columbia.
Despite opposition from Republicans like Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who criticized her bail-bond rulings in criminal cases, Benjamin had the support of the Senate’s two South Carolina Republicans, Senators Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham, who is the top-ranking GOP member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In one case cited by Cruz, Benjamin denied bond at the time of a defendant’s arrest on a shooting charge but granted it nearly two years later due to claims of the state violating the man’s right to a speedy trial. Benjamin says this case was just one of the thousands she has handled since becoming a judge in 2004, starting as a part-time Columbia municipal judge and working at the Gist Law Firm.
In 2020, Benjamin sought a seat on the South Carolina Court of Appeals, but the state’s Republican-led legislature voted in favor of a rival judge the following year. In South Carolina, state lawmakers elect judges after a committee has screened them. With Benjamin’s confirmation, Democratic appointees to the court now have an 8-6 majority over Republican appointees. Benjamin did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment after the confirmation vote.
The Senate’s confirmation of DeAndrea Benjamin to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a significant moment for the court, which needs more diversity, and for Biden, who has been making efforts to appoint a diverse group of judges. Benjamin’s experience as a judge in South Carolina, along with her home-state support from two Republican senators, should make her a valuable addition to the 4th Circuit.
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U.S. Senate confirms 1st Biden judicial nominee of 2023