Fifth Circuit Judge Ho Defends Legal Scholar Who Said a ‘Lesser Black Woman’ Might Join SCOTUS

Judge James Ho of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit told an audience Tuesday at Georgetown University that he “stands with” Ilya Shapiro, a libertarian scholar who recently stated that President Biden’s pledge to appoint a black woman to the Supreme Court could lead to a “lesser black woman” joining the high court.

Shapiro’s comment, for which he apologized, came as he was about to take a new leadership role at Georgetown. But an uproar by students and others led Georgetown Dean William Treanor to postpone Shapiro’s move pending an investigation. Treanor said Shapiro’s comments were “antithetical to the work that we do here every day to build inclusion, belonging, and respect for diversity.”