The U.S. Senate on Monday voted 51-45 to confirm Vermont’s Beth Robinson to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Robinson’s confirmation makes history. She will be the first openly LGBTQ+ woman to serve on a federal appellate court. She is well-known for her advocacy to legalize same-sex marriage in Vermont years before it was legal nationwide — a legacy that her supporters tout as evidence of her commitment to equal rights, but her detractors have used to question her capability as an impartial judge.
In a Monday night statement following the Senate vote, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called Robinson’s confirmation “momentous.”
“More than qualified, Justice Robinson has built a distinguished career based on impartiality and fair application of the law,” he said. “She treats people with respect and compassion, and understands the duty of the court to provide equitable justice.”
President Joe Biden nominated Robinson, 56, for the seat in August at the high recommendation of Vermont’s U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy. She has served on the Vermont Supreme Court since 2011.
Citing the Legislature’s unanimous vote across party lines in favor of her appointment to the state Supreme Court in 2011, Leahy at an October hearing told his Senate colleagues that Robinson “has probably the broadest type of support I’ve ever seen.”
When Biden made his pick public in August, Vermont’s Republican Gov. Phil Scott said Robinson “will make a great addition to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, bringing the Vermont values of commitment to justice and equality, fairness, and Freedom & Unity to the bench.”
Still, several Republicans were vocal critics throughout her confirmation process in Washington. At a September hearing, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Robinson’s past work “demonstrates a marked hostility towards religious liberty” and questioned her ability to remain impartial on the bench.
In response to Republican senators’ questioning, Robinson throughout her confirmation process maintained that she understands the clear delineation between being an advocate, a litigator and an impartial judge.
Vermont’s Democratic Lt. Gov. Molly Gray in a Monday night statement celebrated Robinson’s confirmation as “a historic step in building a judicial system that represents all of us.”
“For me, and so many Vermonters and Vermont women in the legal profession, Justice Robinson’s pioneering work has been inspiring,” Gray said. “She has been a champion for civil rights and marriage equality and will serve our country, and justice system, well.”
The Second Circuit is an especially influential judicial post, hearing federal appeals from New York, Connecticut and Vermont.
Born in Indiana in 1965, Robinson attended Dartmouth College and the University of Chicago Law School before clerking for Judge David Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. After her post there, she worked in private practice for the Vermont law firm Langrock Sperry and Wool for 18 years.
In 2000, Robinson famously served as co-counsel in Baker v. State of Vermont, a case that resulted in the country’s first civil union law in 2000. As an advocate, she then led the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force, which successfully lobbied for the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2009.
Robinson then served as legal counsel to Gov. Peter Shumlin before he appointed her to the state Supreme Court in 2011, where she has served since. Scott will appoint her successor, choosing from a list of candidates to be prepared by the Judicial Nominating Board.
