Biden taps Justice Montgomery-Reeves for fed court

DOVER – President Joe Biden nominated Delaware Supreme Court Justice Tamika Montgomery-Reeves on Wednesday for a vacancy on the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Tamika Montgomery-Reeves | PHOTO COURTESY OF DE COURTS

Montgomery-Reeves, who ascended to the state’s highest court in 2019 after serving for four years on the influential Court of Chancery, would fill the seat left by Judge D. Brooks Smith, who entered senior status in December after turning 65.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Montgomery-Reeves would fill some big shoes, as Smith is the former chief judge of the circuit and the only judge in the history of the Third Circuit to have served as both a chief district judge and chief of the Court of Appeals.

In a statement accompanying the nomination, Biden called Montgomery-Reeves “extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution.”

The appointment of Montgomery-Reeves as justice was a milestone for Delaware, which had never had a Black Supreme Court justice. She was also the first Black vice chancellor in that court’s history when she was confirmed in November 2015.