A Product of Public Universities, Michelle Childs Would Be an Unconventional Court Pick
The judge is seen by some as a long shot for the Supreme Court, but supporters say her bipartisan backing and the appeal of her humble ascent should not be overlooked.
- long shot : 모험을 건[승산 없는] 시도, (경마에서) 승산이 없는 말, (도박·내기 등에서의) (기대와 결과의) 큰 차...
- bipartisan : 양당의, 초당적인
WASHINGTON — It was just before Christmas, and Jean H. Toal, then the chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court, was in a bind. She needed an emergency order drawn up, but the courthouse in Columbia, the state capital, was empty. She was relieved to reach someone who assured her, “Chief, I got it.”
- chief justice ( Chief Justice ) : (특히 미국 최고 법원의) 수석재판관
It was J. Michelle Childs, then a state circuit court judge who had made a name for herself as one of the most adept on the bench.
- a seat on the bench : 재판관의 자리
“Within an hour she came back to me, and she had a complete order with footnotes and everything,” Judge Toal, now retired, recalled of the day more than a dozen years ago. “Days later, she delivered her child. So, she was über-pregnant and it was right at Christmas time, but she had her work ethic on full steam, as she always did.”
- work ethic : 노동관, (윤리관으로서의) 근면 ((보통 Protestant work ethic으로 쓰임))
- full steam : 전력으로, 전속력으로.
The memory sums up the reputation of Judge Childs, now a Federal District Court judge in South Carolina, who rose through the ranks of state schools, local government and the South Carolina legal system to the short list of potential Supreme Court nominees for President Biden, who has pledged to nominate a Black woman to replace Justice Stephen G. Breyer.
- rise[come up] from[through] the ranks : 1. 사병에서 장교가 되다 2. 낮은 신분에서 출세하다
The 55-year-old judge, who has served on the federal bench since 2010, is seen in elite circles as a long shot compared with other Black female candidates whose high-profile connections and Ivy League pedigrees fit the mold of a traditional Supreme Court appointee. But Judge Childs’s powerful champions in Congress — particularly Representative James E. Clyburn, the South Carolina Democrat who is widely credited with saving Mr. Biden’s presidential candidacy — and the broad appeal of her humble ascent could make her a formidable contender.
- federal bench : 연방법원
“If you make assumptions about South Carolina, and a certain type of a judge and a non-Ivy League education, you won’t know what you’re missing in Michelle Childs — she is brilliant,” said Judge Toal, who would often tap Judge Childs to serve in an acting capacity on the state’s high court.
People who have known Judge Childs for decades, personally and professionally, struggle to assign her a political ideology. Many describe a pragmatic approach to her rulings, which they say she issues after intense preparation and deliberation.
“I could have as easily seen Judge Childs be nominated by a Republican than as a Democrat,” said William C. Hubbard, the dean of the University of South Carolina School of Law, who first met Judge Childs when she was a law student there. “I think that is a reflection of how people view her, not as an ideologue but a fair judge.”
- ideologue ( ideologist ) : 이데올로그(이론자 또는 공론가), 이론적 지도자