Ketanji Brown Jackson will become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court

 

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Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed as the 116th Supreme Court justice on Thursday, and will become the first Black woman justice. [NBC / Sahil Kapur] In a 53 to 47 vote, three Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, and Susan Collins — joined Senate Democrats in confirming President Joe Biden’s nominee to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. [Al Jazeera] Democrats and progressives have backed Jackson, citing her experience and the diversity she’ll bring to the Court. “This is a great moment for Judge Jackson, but it is an even greater moment for America as we rise to a more perfect union,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. [NPR / Eric McDaniel] Judge Jackson’s supporters point not only to the historic nature of her nomination but also to her qualifications. Jackson spent years as a federal judge and will become the first justice to have served as a public defender. [Associated Press / Mary Clare Jalonick and Mark Sherman] During her confirmation hearings last month, Republicans misleadingly accused Jackson of being a liberal justice who is soft on crime. The three GOP senators who voted for Jackson applauded her integrity and criticized their party’s treatment of Jackson. [Washington Post / Mike DeBonis, Robert Barnes, and Seung Min Kim] Jackson will be sworn in this summer when Justice Stephen Breyer retires. For the first time in its history, white men will not be the majority on the US Supreme Court. [ABC News / Libby Cathey]

 

 

Ketanji Brown Jackson is the first Black woman nominated to the Supreme Court

 

 

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• President Joe Biden is set to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill retiring Justice Stephen Breyer’s seat. If confirmed, Jackson will be the first Black woman to be a Supreme Court justice. [CNN]
• Biden made a formal announcement of Jackson’s nomination in a press conference Friday. “Judge Jackson is an exceptionally qualified nominee as well as an historic nominee, and the Senate should move forward with a fair and timely hearing and confirmation,” the White House said in a statement. [The White House]
• Jackson, 51, currently sits on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, and is considered to be a liberal jurist, although she garnered some Republican support during her nomination last year to the Court of Appeals. She’ll face a somewhat challenging nomination as conservative legislators and interest groups attempt to paint her as a radical and foil her nomination. [NYT]
• Jackson, in addition to being the fifth woman and the third Black person to serve in the nation’s highest court, would be the first justice in decades to have significant experience in criminal defense. Like many other justices, she graduated from Harvard Law School and clerked under a Supreme Court justice — Breyer, actually — but her time as a federal public defender sets her apart as well. [Axios / Hans Nichols and Sam Baker]
• She also served as vice chair of the United States Sentencing Committee, which was created to address sentencing disparities and increase transparency and proportionality in sentencing. In 2013, Jackson started her career in the federal judiciary as a DC trial judge. [Vox / Ian Millhiser]