Black attorneys in South Florida rallied together, hoping to change 176 years of history in South Florida.
On June 27, 2023, Ben Crump, the prominent civil rights lawyer, and several Black attorneys called on President Joe Biden to change history and nominate a Black woman to the federal bench in south Florida, according to a Twitter post by Ben Crump Law, PLLC.
Crump stood in agreement with the Judicial Diversity Initiative for its press conference. Members of the Black Bar Association in Miami, Broward, Palm Beach, and other legal associations attended.
The event at Carlton Fields Law Firm in Miami was a cry for the nation to uphold its promises.
“We have to always continue to make the American promise of liberty and justice for all real,” Crump said, according to WSVN. Among the group of Black lawyers joining Crump was Bacardi Jackson from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Jackson urged the Biden administration “to seek out at least one who has walked the road of a Black woman in America.”
Dwayne Robinson, Judicial Diversity Initiative Chair, added, “President Joseph R. Biden has the ripe opportunity to ensure that the glass ceiling remains shattered.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau 17 percent of Floridians identify as Black alone. Minority communities need representation and a voice familiar with the realities they face in the justice system. “Long underrepresented communities deserve representation,” Jackson added.
Last year, South Florida native Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black female justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
According to the tweet, Hon. Marcia Cooke was the only Black woman district court
judge in South Florida. She was confirmed 96-0 by the United States Senate in 2004, according to NBC 6, after she was nominated President George W. Bush in 2003.Cooke, 68, died in January 2023 from cancer, the news outlet reported.
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