From [HERE] President Joe Biden’s nominee to be only the second Black man appointed to a federal appeals court in the past decade was confirmed by the Senate, sending Embry Kidd, a US magistrate judge in Orlando, Florida, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (article available here(link is external)).

The White House has prioritized demographic diversity in its judicial nominations and has almost doubled the number of Black women on the circuit courts.

Biden has appointed more women and people of color and others with non-traditional backgrounds not common to the federal bench, including public defenders and civil rights attorneys.

Kidd would be Biden’s second Black male appellate appointee after Andre Mathis was confirmed to the Sixth Circuit in 2022.

Kidd would replace Judge Charles Wilson, the second Black judge to serve on the Eleventh Circuit, which covers Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. Wilson was appointed by Bill Clinton to the seat vacated by the first Black man on the court, Joseph Hatchett.