The U.S. Senate voted 80-17 last week to confirm Judge Jacquelyn D. Austin ‘96 to the federal bench in South Carolina. President Joe Biden nominated the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law alumna in November of last year to fill the vacancy left by Judge J. Michelle Childs ‘91 who is now a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 

Why it matters 

The District Court for the District of South Carolina is one of 94 federal trial courts in the United States and hears civil and criminal cases. Judges in federal district courts have lifetime appointments.  

By the numbers 

Judge Austin’s confirmation makes her: 

• The third Black USC Rice School of Law alumna in the last three years nominated for a federal judgeship, joining Judge Childs and Judge DeAndrea Benjamin ‘97.   
• The twelfth USC Rice School of Law graduate of the 14 judges on the District of South Carolina.  
• The third Black woman to serve as a District of South Carolina Court judge and the only Black woman currently on that court. 
• One of 35 Black women President Biden has nominated for a federal judgeship. 

Background 

Judge Austin is originally from Sumter and worked in private practice at Womble Carlyle Sandridge and Rice, PLLC as an associate from 1999 to 2006, where she was elected partner in 2006. She was appointed to her first eight-year term as a United States magistrate judge for the District of South Carolina in 2011 and was reappointed in 2019. She previously worked as an associate at Hardaway Law Firm from 1997 to 1999 and served as a law clerk for The Honorable Matthew J. Perry, Jr. of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina from 1996 to 1997.