President Joe Biden will nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday as the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, sources say, the first justice since Thurgood Marshall with significant experience as a criminal defense attorney.
Biden to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson as first Black woman to Supreme Court
Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, is set to be nominated as the first Black woman to Supreme Court by President Joe Biden on Friday, fulfilling his promise to put a female person of color into a historical role, the Washington Post reported.
Biden has also been committed to putting more public defenders on the federal bench, of which Jackson has long experience.
If confirmed, Jackson will be only the third African-American in the Supreme Court’s 233-year history. Also, for the first time in history, the court would have a near-parity of five men and four women. Jackson would replace retiring conservative justice Stephen G. Breyer, and thus the court’s current liberal supermajority of 6-to-3 would remain unchanged.
Likely bipartisan appeal
Last summer, Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Susan Collins of Maine all voted for Jackson’s confirmation as a circuit court judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the second most important court in the country, according to CNN.
Jackson’s experience
Although Jackson was born in the nation’s capitol, she grew up in Miami. She was a member of the Miami Palmetto Senior High School debate team. Jackson graduated from both Harvard University and Harvard Law School. At Harvard, she was active in the Black Students Association.
Jackson currently sits on the influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, elevated by Biden and confirmed by the Senate last year with Republican support, ABC reported. She served as a trial judge in Washington for eight years before that.
Jackson served as a federal public defender in Washington, served as a vice-chair on the U.S. sentencing commission, and served on the federal district court in D.C., appointed there by President Barack Obama, CNN reported. She also clerked for Justice Breyer during the 1999-2000 Supreme Court Term after stints at private law firms, Huff Post reported.
During Jackson’s time at the federal public defender’s office in DC for 2 1/2 years, Jackson represented indigent clients in criminal cases and detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the Washington Post reported.
How would Jackson vote?
Jackson will be taking the place of retiring Justice Breyer, another liberal who is over 30 years her senior.
According to the Washington Post: “[Jackson] would be likely to vote with liberals on the most contentious issues facing the Supreme Court, including affirmative action, abortion, LGBTQ protections, and gun rights.”
