Happy Friday from Avalon and Brad, and welcome to another round-up of the week's news about the judicial bench. This week, we took a closer look at a memorable dissent from a federal appeals court judge, and why one court watcher called it an example of "why diversity on the bench is so critical." And Biden has only a few weeks left before midterms; what norms could he break to seat as many judges as possible before the Senate potentially flips? 

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Judge James E. Graves Jr. Judge James E. Graves Jr. Photo by Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Judge's Opinion Shows Impact of a Diverse Judiciary

Research shows that a judge's race and gender can influence how they decide cases involving discrimination, but a recent dissent from a Black federal appeals court judge spotlights how a jurists' background can shape their writings too.

You probably haven't forgotten this dissent from Judge James Graves Jr. last month where he partly drew on his own experiences growing up in Mississippi in the Jim Crow era to explain that a 1850 voting law written to disenfranchise Black voters violates the Equal Protections Clause. The law was upheld by the en banc court.