From early on, Childs seen as ‘destined for further things’
By MEG KINNARD
Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The fact that Michelle Childs is under consideration to fill a Supreme Court vacancy comes as no surprise to some of her legal colleagues in South Carolina. The federal judge has emerged as a possible nominee to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer as President Joe Biden seeks to fulfill his pledge to put a Black woman on the nation’s highest court. South Carolina attorney Vickie Eslinger says she hired Childs out of law school and quickly saw her as a lawyer capable of meeting tough challenges. When Childs was a state judge, South Carolina’s then-Chief Justice Jean Toal often had Childs substitute on the appellate bench, in part because Toal saw a higher court in Childs’ future.