In addition to this morning's Supreme Court pick, this week brought news of President Obama's nomination of a lawyer to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Nominee Rebecca Ross Haywood is an AUSA in the Western District of PA and has served as chief of the appellate division since '10. She was previously a Jones Day attorney in the firm's Pittsburgh office. A Pennsylvania native, she graduated from Princeton and Michigan Law before clerking for Judge Alan Bloch on the US District Court for the Western District of PA.

If Haywood is confirmed by the Senate, NBC reports she will be the first black woman to sit on the Third Circuit.

Nancy Zirkin, EVP of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights—a coalition of 200 organizations dedicated to promoting civil and human rights, headed by Wade Henderson—said in a statement, "We applaud the nomination of the eminently qualified Assistant US Attorney Rebecca Ross Haywood to fill the vacancy on the Third Circuit and urge the Senate leadership to allow for a fair hearing and timely vote on her confirmation."