By Nyah Marshall | California Black Media
Americans around the country, including legal scholars and Black women, are praising President Joe Biden’s announcement last week nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace Associate Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS). If confirmed, Jackson would make history as the first Black woman and the first former federal public defender to serve as a Supreme Court justice.
“For too long, our government, our courts haven’t looked like America,” Biden said at the White House, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Judge Jackson.
“I believe that we should have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications and that will inspire all young people to believe that they can one day serve our country at the highest level.”
Jackson, 51, currently sits on the District of Columbia (D.C.) Court of Appeals and has broad judicial, academic and practical legal experience. She was three times confirmed by the Senate, twice unanimously, when picked to serve on the U.S. Sentencing Commission and when appointed by President Barack Obama to be on the D.C. Federal District Court.
In her acceptance speech, Jackson revealed that she shares a birthday with Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman appointed to serve as a federal judge.
“Today, I proudly stand on Judge Motley’s shoulders, sharing not only her birthday, but also her steadfast and courageous commitment to equal justice under law,” Jackson said.
“Judge Motley—her life and career—has been a true inspiration to me, as I have pursued this professional path,” she explained. “And if I’m fortunate enough to be confirmed as the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 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.”
“Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is an outstanding nominee,” said Danielle Holley-Walker, dean and professor at the Howard University School of Law, whose alumni include Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Holley-Walker said a noteworthy aspect of Jackson’s background is that she has devoted most of her career to serving the public. As a federal public defender, Jackson represented defendants on appeal who did not have the means to pay for a lawyer and worked to identify errors that occurred during their trials.
“I think one of the most important things for those of us who are interested in issues of justice and equality is that she served as a public defender, and she would not only be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, she would also be the first public defender to ever serve on the Supreme Court,” she added.
Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., in 1970 and grew up in Florida with her parents who are both graduates of HBCUs. After graduating from Harvard, Jackson clerked for three federal jurists, including retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.
Later, she began representing clients in criminal and civil appellate matters at Goodwin Procter LLP, appearing before the Supreme Court in the case McGuire v. Reilly. In this case, she represented Massachusetts reproductive rights groups, arguing that the state law prohibiting anti-abortion protesters from harassing people seeking reproductive health care should be upheld.
During her seven years as a district judge, Jackson issued several rulings on topics like federal environmental law, employment discrimination and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The most notable one included the Committee on the Judiciary v. McGahn, in which she ruled that Don McGahn, the former White House counsel to President Donald Trump, was required to testify before the House Judiciary Committee as part of its investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Jackson was involved in the case against Trump’s efforts to block the release of documents related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. A federal district judge in Washington rejected Trump’s request to block the disclosure of the documents, and the D.C. Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Patricia Millett that Jackson joined, upheld that ruling.
Biden’s announcement came nearly a month after Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement and two years to the day that Biden pledged to appoint a Black woman as the next Supreme Court justice.
“With this nomination, President Biden and Vice President Harris will once again elevate a woman, and in this case, a Black woman, to a position that has long been covered by a cement ceiling,” Jotaka Eaddy, founder of #WinWithBlackWomen said in a statement. “Today that ceiling is shattered into a million pieces.”
