Falls Church resident Ilya Shapiro, who lost a high-profile campaign for the Falls Church School Board last fall, has been placed on administrative leave by the Georgetown Law School after he startled many by saying on Twitter last week that President Biden would nominate not “the objectively best pick” but a “lesser” Black woman to be the next Supreme Court justice.

Shapiro, considered an expert in law at the libertarian, Cato Institute had just been hired by Georgetown, but was placed on leave this Monday, one day before he was due to assume his role as a senior lecturer and the executive director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution, which is part of its law school.

According to reports, Shapiro “drew a sharp rebuke from students, faculty members and alumni with his comments about the search process for the next justice.” His Twitter posts have since been deleted.

In a tweet posted Jan. 26, Shapiro suggested that Biden should nominate Sri Srinivasan, the Indian-born chief judge on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, to succeed Justice Stephen G. Breyer on the Supreme Court.

“Objectively best pick for Biden is Sri Srinivasan, who is solid prog & v smart,” Shapiro wrote. “Even has identity politics benefit of being first Asian (Indian) American. But alas doesn’t fit into latest intersectionality hierarchy so we’ll get lesser black woman. Thank heaven for small favors?”

Some called for the law school, which is among the most prestigious in the nation and sits within a mile of the Supreme Court, to rescind its decision to hire Mr. Shapiro.

“Over the past several days, I have heard the pain and outrage of so many at Georgetown Law, and particularly from our Black female students, staff, alumni and faculty,” said Dean William Treanor. “Shapiro’s tweets are antithetical to the work that we do here every day to build inclusion, belonging and respect for diversity.”