Michelle Childs

South Carolina jurist Michelle Childs is one step closer to confirmation for the federal court typically seen as a proving ground for the nation's highest bench. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 17-5 Thursday to approve Childs' nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. It now goes to the full Senate for a vote. Childs has been a federal judge on South Carolina's District Court for more than a decade. Earlier this year, she was on a shortlist of candidates being considered by President Joe Biden for an upcoming vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Her bipartisan supporters include Democratic U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham.

May 3, 2022 — A look at Judge Michelle Childs' recent confirmation hearing for the US Court of Appeals DC Circuit; a preview of this week's state legislative action; an update on the health of the Palmetto State's economy; and more.

The South Carolina federal judge recently under consideration for a slot on the U.S. Supreme Court has received a top legal award from a trial lawyer group in her home state. The South Carolina Association for Justice announced Monday that Michelle Childs has been named recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Justice Award. Childs has been a federal judge on South Carolina's District Court for more than a decade. She was on a shortlist of candidates being considered by President Joe Biden for an upcoming vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Biden ultimately tapped Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

President Joe Biden had zeroed in on a pair of finalists for his first Supreme Court pick when there were rumors last year that Justice Stephen Breyer would retire. But since the upcoming retirement was announced late last month, it has come with the rise of a third candidate, one with ready-made bipartisan support that has complicated the decision.

The fact that Michelle Childs is under consideration to fill a Supreme Court vacancy comes as no surprise to some of her legal colleagues in South Carolina. The federal judge has emerged as a possible nominee to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer as President Joe Biden seeks to fulfill his pledge to put a Black woman on the nation's highest court. South Carolina attorney Vickie Eslinger says she hired Childs out of law school and quickly saw her as a lawyer capable of meeting tough challenges. When Childs was a state judge, South Carolina's then-Chief Justice Jean Toal often had Childs substitute on the appellate bench, in part because Toal saw a higher court in Childs' future.