Ketanji Brown Jackson Is the First Black Woman Nominated to the Supreme Court
President Biden officially announced he is nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, to the Supreme Court, marking the first time in 232 years that a Black woman has been tapped to serve on the nation’s highest court.
If Jackson is confirmed, not only will she be the first Black female Supreme Court justice, the Washington Post reports she will also be the rare justice with significant experience working as a criminal defense attorney and the Court’s first former public defender. Throughout her career, Jackson has also worked as a trial court judge, and she shaped federal sentencing policy while serving on the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Just last year, Biden nominated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, one of most powerful courts in the nation, and the Senate confirmed her with bipartisan support.
During that confirmation hearing, Jackson shared a bit about how her family’s dedication to public service led to her decision to become a public defender. “My parents were in public service, my brother was a police officer and in the military, and being in the public defenders’ office felt very much like the opportunity to help with my skills and talents,” she said. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Miami, Jackson received both her undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University. She’s now married to Patrick Jackson, a general surgeon, and has two daughters.
Throughout his campaign, Biden pledged he would nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court, if given the chance. That opportunity came this year when Justice Stephen Breyer announced he would be retiring at the end of the Court’s current term. (Jackson also clerked for Breyer in 1999.)
All Supreme Court nominees must be confirmed by a simple Senate majority, and Breyer faced pressure to retire while Democrats still have narrow control of the Senate. Now, Biden will have an opportunity to put a justice on the Court before the November midterm elections change the makeup of Congress. While the Court will keep its conservative majority, with Jackson, Democrats would have a new, relatively young liberal justice on the bench.
Though it’s expected that Republicans will push hard against Jackson’s nomination, Vox reports that the GOP has yet to present a clear narrative against her. Per the outlet, due to the nature of her previous positions, Jackson has never handed down decisions on “hot-button issues” like race or abortion.
“I sought a nominee with the strongest credentials, record, character, and dedication to the rule of law,” Biden said in a video statement on Friday. “She’s a history maker...an immensely qualified judge who’s going to help make our courts stronger and more reflective of our country.”
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