President Biden and the House Committee on the Judiciary announced the historic nomination of the first Black woman Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, to the Supreme Court on Friday, Feb. 25.
“I am nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve. She is one of our nation’s brightest legal minds and will be an exceptional Justice,” said President Biden.
“Judge Jackson will not be the last,” said Vice-President Kamala Harris
If she gets the simple majority of 51 votes and is confirmed, she would be replacing Justice Stephen Breyer, for whom she worked as a clerk. In that role as a clerk, she became well-versed in the principles of the Constitution and familiarized herself with the highest court. Jackson would also become the only former public defender to serve on the current Supreme Court.
“Judge Brown Jackson has already inspired young Black women like my daughters to set their sights higher. Her confirmation will help them believe they can be anything they want to be,” said Former President Barack Obama.
Brown Jackson is currently an influential judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. As a federal public defender, she represented many accused of a wide array of crimes who could not afford an attorney.Â
Her work as a criminal defense attorney stands in sharp contrast to the bench justices’ general work history, which is often comprised of experiences as prosecutors and corporate lawyers.
From leading protests over the display of a confederate flag in her young adult years to representing a nonviolent life sentence case commuted by the President in recent years, Brown Jackson always appears to be engaged in civic activity.Â
If her nomination is confirmed, Brown Jackson could become the eighth non-White justice in the court’s 233-year history.
Journey to a potential lifetime appointmentÂ
Brown Jackson was born in Washington D.C. in 1970 and raised in Miami. Her parents attended segregated primary schools, then attended historically black colleges, later becoming high-level administrators in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Her brother would eventually serve in the U.S. Army in Egypt and Iraq, while her uncles were Miami police officers.
Brown Jackson’s hard-working parents raised her to excel. She became a prominent debater for her high school’s debate team and even earned a school leadership title of “Mayor”.
Despite being a consistent high achiever throughout K-12, her guidance counselor warned that she should not set her “sights so high.”
While studying for her undergraduate degree at Harvard, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a dorm room displayed the confederate flag. In response to the racist symbol, she organized a protest demanding the student remove it.
In Brown Jackson’s personal and later professional life, a pivotal moment came when her uncle Thomas Brown, Jr. was sentenced to life for a nonviolent cocaine conviction in 1989.
Brown Jackson would steer her uncle’s egregiously sentenced case to the President. She successfully made the argument to a law firm to take the case pro bono. President Obama commuted the sentence on November 22, 2017.Â
Obama, impressed with Jackson’s skills, appointed her to the vice-chair position on the U.S. Commission. She was confirmed with bipartisan support in 2009. In the role, she rewrote guidelines to reduce penalties for drug-related offenses.Â
As Brown Jackson enters a new decade of her life, a new uncertain future amid pandemic recovery and a now escalating war in Eastern Europe, she will be able to bring broad and varied experiences and a high level of proficiency to the nation’s highest court.
“Bold. Principled. Qualified. Dedicated to justice. President Biden has met the moment w/ the historic nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson & we must have swift confirmation,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley.
Vice-President Kamala Harris made the following pronouncement, “She is eminently qualified to serve our nation on our highest court. And while she will be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, Judge Jackson will not be the last.”Â
