President Joe Biden nominated federal appeals court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson (a first black woman) to the United States Supreme Court on Friday, February 25, 2022, making her the first Black woman to be elected to a court that earlier pronounced her race unworthy of citizenship and condoned segregation. Mr. Biden introduced Ms. Jackson as a “proven consensus builder” who has “a real sense that the law must serve the people of the United States.”
The promise made throughout the campaign
Mr. Biden fulfilled a campaign pledge by appointing Ms. Jackson, a historic choice that will further diversify a court that has been dominated by white men for nearly two centuries. He nominated an attorney who will be the first former public defender on the Supreme Court, albeit she also has the superior legal experience of the other justices.
Ms. Jackson would be the court’s second Black justice, after conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, and just the third in history. She would succeed 83-year-old liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, who is retiring at the end of the current term, so she would not affect the court’s 6-3 conservative majority.
Ms. Jackson would join the court as it considers restrictions on abortion rights, as well as ending affirmative action in college admissions and curbing efforts to enhance minority representation through voting rights. She would be the court’s sixth woman, but she would be joined by three other women, including the first Latina, Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Ms. Jackson expressed her gratitude to Mr. Biden in a brief statement, saying she was “humbled by the remarkable honor of this nomination.” Her family’s firsthand involvement with the judicial system, as judges and lawyers, as well as an incarcerated member and police officers, was highlighted.
“I can only hope that my life and career, my love of this country and the Constitution, and my commitment to upholding the rule of law and the sacred principles upon which this great nation was founded, will inspire future generations of Americans,” Ms. Jackson said if she is confirmed as the next associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Early in her legal career, Ms. Jackson, 51, worked as one of Breyer’s law clerks. She went to Harvard for undergraduate and law school, and before becoming a federal judge in 2013, she worked for the United States Sentencing Commission, which establishes federal sentencing policy.
Approval by the Senate to appoint a first black woman
Her nomination must be confirmed by the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim 50-50 majority with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaker. Party leaders have assured that the president’s choice will be considered quickly but carefully.
The announcement comes two years to the day after Mr. Biden, who was then battling for the Democratic presidential nomination, pledged in a South Carolina debate to nominate a Black woman if a vacancy arose.