President Obama appoints an African American judge to the second-highest court in the US — President Obama Appoints African American Judge to the Second Highest Court in the United States: Recently, President Obama announced his nomination of three candidates for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, they are Patricia Ann Millettt, Cornelia Pillard and Robert Leon Wilkins. The President’s nominations included Judge Robert Leon Wilkins, a distinguished African American Judge currently serving as a U.S. district Judge for D.C. In his statement, President Obama said, “This is the second time I’ve called on Judge Robert Wilkins to serve — because in 2010, I nominated Robert to the D.C. District Court, and the Senate confirmed him without opposition. Before serving with distinction as a federal judge, Robert spent eight years in private practice and a decade as a public defender here in Washington, D.C., providing legal representation to defendants who could not afford an attorney. And throughout his career, Robert has distinguished himself as a principled attorney of the utmost integrity.”