As public faith in the Supreme Court reaches historic lows, President Biden’s decision to nominate a Black woman to the court may represent a sea change moment in how Americans view an increasingly out-of-touch institution.

Biden’s decision will open the court’s doors to more Black women jurists — a joyous and long-overdue achievement. Equally important, this nominee can inject a transformative, people-centered perspective into a Supreme Court that too often favors the wealthy and powerful.

One reason why our courts are stacked in favor of the wealthy and powerful is that an overwhelming majority of federal judges were either highly paid corporate attorneys or prosecutors before becoming judges. The same is true of the Supreme Court. Six of the nine justices were corporate lawyers or prosecutors during their careers, while the other three justices spent significant time at elite private law schools.

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By contrast, most of the Black women that could make Biden’s shortlist dedicated their careers to helping people with little or no power in our society.

If any of these women are chosen to serve on the Supreme Court, they would present a powerful, contrasting perspective to that of President Trump’s three wealthy, white justices. If the Court’s 6–3 conservative majority continues to erode voting rights, any one of these women could offer powerful dissents highlighting the consequences of the court's previous decisions gutting the Voting Rights Act and greenlighting partisan redistricting.

The experiential diversity of President Biden’s potential nominees extends far beyond civil rights cases, however. Many of the Black women being considered have experience navigating our broken criminal legal system as well.

Adding one of these highly qualified Black women to the Supreme Court can also catalyze change across every branch of the federal judiciary. Currently, 65 percent of federal appeals judges represented corporations before joining the federal bench. Former prosecutors outnumber judges with criminal defense experience four to one. Meanwhile, less than 10 percent of active federal courts of appeal judges have civil rights backgrounds or any experience as public defenders.