Who is Ketanji Brown Jackson, The First Woman Of Colour To Be Nominated By US President Joe Biden For Supreme Court?
Taking to Twitter a few hours ago, United States President Joe Biden announced that he is nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve the Supreme Court. He went on to call her the nation ‘brightest legal mind’ while adding that she will make an ‘exceptional Justice’. In the history of 232 years, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the first woman of colour to serve on the Supreme Court, if she is confined that is.
I’m proud to announce that I am nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court. Currently serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, she is one of our nation’s brightest legal minds and will be an exceptional Justice.https://t.co/iePvhz1YaA pic.twitter.com/Nzqv2AtN8h
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 25, 2022
I sought a nominee with the strongest credentials, record, character, and dedication to the rule of law. That’s why I’m excited to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the United States Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/iGHLqqRAD0
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 25, 2022
Happening Now: President Biden delivers remarks on his nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. https://t.co/kfVZTKYjTb
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 25, 2022
Who Is Ketanji Brown Jackson?
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is currently serving the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Jackson was born in Washington, DC. She grew up in Miami, Florida. Jackson, 51, was appointed to the federal bench in 2013 and was backed by three Republican senators last year when she was elevated to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, seen as a staging ground for aspiring Supreme Court justices. Her parents were teachers at primary schools and went on to become administrators in the Miami-Dade Public School System. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s father attended law school when she was young and became a school board lawyer. Despite being discouraged by her high school guidance counsellor to not apply to Harvard, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson not only applied to the college but she went on to graduate from Harvard College and then Harvard Law School.
Judge Jackson was US President Joe Biden’s first-ever judicial nominee and was confirmed by the US Senate with bipartisan support three times, including recently to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit She was nominated to be a district court judge by President Barack Obama for the US District Court for Columbia in 2012. She was confirmed in 2013. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson severed as the Vice-Chair of the US Sentencing Commission in 2010 after she was nominated by President Obama in 2009 and confirmed later.
As a protégé of Justice Breyer, Judge Jackson earned a reputation for pragmatism and consensus building. It’s part of why I nominated her twice – first as a district judge, and then to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, where she earned praise from both Democrats and Republicans.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 25, 2022
Like Justice Breyer, Judge Jackson understands that the law isn’t just about abstract theory. It’s about people’s lives. @POTUS Biden has made an excellent choice, and I look forward to seeing Judge Jackson confirmed.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 25, 2022
Also Read: The White House Reveals That US President Joe Biden Plans To Nominate A Black Woman To The Supreme Court. We’re Glad To Hear This!
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson worked as a public defender in the past and helped those who could not afford to pay for a lawyer. If confirmed, she will be the very first former federal public defender to severe on the US Supreme Court. She also worked with Justice Breyer as a law clerk and coincidently she will be replacing Justice Bryer in the Supreme Court if confirmed.
