Thursday, March 28, 2024

Biden Nominates the First Black Woman to the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Today, President Biden is anticipated to announce that he will be nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to the U.S. Supreme Court.

If confirmed, Judge Brown Jackson will become the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. She would also be the first justice with experience as a defense lawyer, since Thurgood Marshall, and the second youngest justice on the current court.

Biden offered the nomination to Judge Brown Jackson in a phone call earlier this week. Biden and White House staff notified key officials about the decision.

Previously Judge Brown Jackson spent seven years in private practice, and was also an assistant public defender in Washington DC, representing defendants who could not afford to hire a lawyer.

Judge Brown Jackson was nominated to the District Court eight months ago, and she was confirmed by a 53-44 vote, with support from three Republican Senators.

Judge Brown Jackson served eight years as a federal trial judge in Washington DC. During that confirmation hearing she received an endorsement from former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., “Our politics may differ, but my praise for Ketanji’s intellect, for her character, for her integrity, is unequivocal. She is an amazing person,” Ryan said.

NBC News