Ketanji Brown was sworn into as the 116th Supreme Court Justice upon the retirement Justice Stephen Breyer’s 2021 term ended on June 30, 2022.
Here are the facts about the 51-year old federal appeals court judge, who became the first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a 53-47 vote, she was confirmed by the Senate. Mitt Romney joined the Democrats, along with Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins.
During her confirmation hearings some GOP senators attempted to portray her as a soft on crime activist judge who would legislate directly from the bench.
They criticised Jackson’s sentencing record as a federal trial judge in child pornography cases.
President Biden fulfilled a campaign promise to name a Black woman justice to the high courts. She noted upon her confirmation that it was a powerful thing for people to see themselves in others.
Jackson agrees with this sentiment. Jackson declared, “I am both the dream and hope of the slave” at the White House after she was confirmed. Jackson said that she believes this moment is one in which all Americans should be proud of her new position on the court. Our union has come a long ways. My family was able to move from segregation to the Supreme Court of the United States in just one generation.
Jackson, the first Black woman to be elected Supreme Court justice, diversifies a court that was almost two centuries ago dominated by White men. Jackson replaces Ferguson 125 years ago when the Supreme Court declared racial segregation constitutional in Plessy.
Clarence Thomas is Clarence Thomas’ second Black justice, making her the second Black justice of the court. She is also the third Black justice in history. She is the fourth female judge on the court, the most ever, and the sixth female justice in the history of the court.
Jackson is a native of Washington, D.C., but she was born in Florida. According to the White House, Jackson’s parents were educated in segregated schools in the South. They then became teachers and administrators in public schools in the Miami region.
It seems that her dream of becoming a judge was a long-held one. According to the 1998 Miami Palmetto Senior High School Yearbook, she is a member in good standing of several honor societies. She also states that she wants to become a lawyer and get a judicial position.
Jackson was a Harvard Law School and Harvard University student. According to the White House she was cautioned by her high school guidance counsel when she expressed her desire to attend Harvard. Jackson graduated from Harvard College as magna cumlaude and Harvard Law School as cum laude.
During the October 1999 term, she was a clerk for Breyer at the Supreme Court. After stints at prestigious law firms, she was appointed assistant special counsel to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Before returning to the U.S., she also served two years as an assistant federal defender. As vice-chair of the Sentencing Commission, Jackson was elected in 2010. Jackson’s experience as a public defense attorney makes her the first justice since Thurgood Marshal to have represented criminal defendants.
Jackson was a popular candidate for the Supreme Court before there was a vacancy. Her professional experience representing indigent criminal defendants, and almost nine years of federal bench service made her a favourite.
In 2021, President Joe Biden selected her to replace Attorney General Merrick Galrland on the U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit. This court is considered the second most powerful in the country and has three current Supreme Court justices. Jackson was elected to the D.C. Circuit in June 2021. He won support from all Senate Democrats as well as three Republicans: Senators Susan Collins (Maine), Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska).
Jackson was appointed to the D.C. Circuit before she served more than eight years as a judge on the federal district court in Washington, D.C. Jackson was a Judge on the District of Columbia’s federal district court for eight years before being appointed to the D.C. Circuit. Former President Barack Obama selected her for the post in 2012. She was introduced to her confirmation hearing in 2012 by Paul Ryan, a Republican of Wisconsin. Ryan would later go on to serve as Speaker of the House until retiring in 2018.
Ryan and Jackson are married and Jackson has described Jackson as “amazing person”. Ryan spoke highly of her: “Our politics may be different, but my praises for Ketanji for her intellect, her character and her integrity are unequivocal.”
Obama was considering Jackson for the Supreme Court in 2016 as a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia.
Jackson was a judge on the district court during Jackson’s tenure. She ruled in the highly publicized dispute between the House Judiciary Committee (now the White House Counsel) and Don McGahn. Jackson found in 2019 that McGahn must comply with the subpoena to testify.
“Presidents do not have the right to be kings.” She wrote that this means they don’t have subjects bound by loyalty and blood whose fate they can control. “Rather, in this country of liberty, it is clear that White House employees work for the people and that they swear to uphold and defend the Constitution.
She was also a member of the D.C. panel with three judges. Circuit rejected Donald Trump’s attempt by the National Archives and Records Administration to prevent the release of his White House records to the House Select Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol on January 6. Jackson was a part of the opinion by Judge Patricia Millett, which found that Trump “provided no basis to this court to override the judgment of President Biden and the agreement and accommodations between the Political Branches regarding these documents.”
Final approval was given by the Supreme Court to allow the National Archives to provide the records to the January 6, committee. Trump had requested that they be blocked.
Reporting was contributed by Melissa Quinn, Nancy Cordes and Jacob Rosen, as well as The Associated Press.
